
Book. . ^7c> 



CfiPXRIGHT DEPOSm 



^aul the Conqueror 

Mary Redington Ely 



Paul the Conqueror 



By 
Lo^vMJ'^lTftC^ARY REDINGTON ELY 



NEW YORK 
THE WOMANS PRESS 

600 LEXINGTON AVENUE 
1919 






Copyright, 1919, by 

National Board, Young Womens Christian Associations 

OF THE United States of America 



M'WtM 



©CI.A535864 




TO MY FATHER 

Henry G. Ely 

Who fought the good fight, 
Who finished his course, 
Who kept the faith. 



FOREWORD 

This little book is sent out in the hope that it 
may open some new avenues of thought and study 
about the character and achievements of the great 
apostle. It does not seek, as its primary emphasis, 
to deal with historical or critical questions. It does 
not aim to present in detail Paul's contribution to 
Christian theology. The hope is rather that, view- 
ing in a simple way the thought, the work, and the 
life of Paul in its own setting, it may suggest the 
meaning of that work, thought, and life for our 
to-day. Through these brief studies it is hoped that 
some new glimpses may be gained of the problems 
that Paul met, and of the quality of life that he 
brought to bear upon them. Its goal cannot be 
attained, however, unless the glimpses thus gained 
lead forward the thought of those who use these 
studies, to estimate the meaning of the problems 
in our world to-day, and the value of Paul's way 
of living in the society that we know. To suggest 
some ways of approach to acquaintance with a 
powerful personality, that the contagion of that 
personality may contribute to effective Christian 
living to-day, is the final purpose of this book. 

Grateful acknowledgment is made to Mr. Harold 
H. Tryon of the Union Theological Seminary, New 
York City, for stimulating criticism while the 



6 PAUL THE CONQUEROR 

studies were in preparation, and to my sister, Caro- 
line Denison Ely, without whose encouragement 
and inspiration the book would not have been possi- 
ble. 

M. R. E. 

St. Johnsbury, Vermont 

August 14, 1919 







CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Chapter 


I. 


I Can Do All Things . 


9 


Chapter 


II. 


A Jew of Tarsus 


14 


Chapter 


III. 


At the Feet of Gamaliel 


24 


Chapter 


IV. 


Persecuting the Church 


34 


Chapter 


V. 


The High Calling . . 


42 


Chapter 


VI. 


A Great Door and Effeetua 


I 50 


Chapter 


VII. 


Neither Jew nor Greek . 


60 


Chapter 


VIII. 


In Journeyings Often . 


68 


Chapter 


IX. 


More than Conqueror . 


77 


Chapter 


X. 


The Greatest of These . 


87 


Chapter 


XI. 


An Ambassador for Christ 


96 


Chapter 


XII. 


The Fullness of Christ . 


. 108 



CHAPTER I 
I CAN DO ALL THINGS 

''I can do all things'' — ^what is the spirit behind 
these words ? Ours is an age of daring and of do- 
ing, but not many men would venture an assertion 
of power like this. ^'I can do all things" — is it 
the boasting pride of a young enthusiast, confident 
in his own power, because having never greatly 
tried, he has never conspicuously failed? Or is it 
the unreasoning determination of a man embittered 
by defeat, who, having suffered the pangs of disap- 
pointed egotism, is doggedly denying the fact of 
failure ? ^ ^ I can do all things ' ' — they are the words 
of an old man in prison, soon to be tried at Caesar's 
court, and soon to lay down his life. They are 
words not of boasting, but of humble and self- for- 
getful triumph through a power that was not his 
own. ' * I can do all things in him that strengthen- 
eth me." And Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ, 
had put his life back of the words. If his living 
had not upheld them, we should despise them as the 
miserable vauntings of a little soul. But the glori- 
ous triumph of his life of achievement, and the 
humility that counted not his own life as dear unto 
himself (Acts 20 : 24), had given to the unconquer- 
able spirit a sure foundation of truth and life. To 



10 PAUL THE CONQUEROR 

US in an age when power counts, PauFs dauntless 
spirit brings challenge and appeal. 

Not only through the contagion of his invincible 
spirit, but by the summons of his life of vigorous 
activity, Paul sends out his call to us to-day. To 
read the record of his gigantic task, to see him has- 
tening from city to city, bringing his message from 
one corner of the empire to another, planning his 
campaigns like a military general, gathering a force 
of workers to assist him, utilizing every situation 
to which he came for the spreading of his message, 
to see him defying fatigue, illness, opposition, im- 
prisonment, and even death, to accomplish the work 
that was set before him, is to marvel at the effective 
energy of his living. To an age that puts efficiency 
high in its scale of values, Paul speaks through his 
life of vivid achievement. 

Unconquerable in spirit, colossal in his power 
of accomplishment, Paul brings a challenge to the 
Christian of to-day. But he speaks to us too in the 
gospel that he taught. The great ideals for which 
he worked are those that to-day we are striving to 
make real in human living. Freedom to think, to 
act, to live, was the compelling note of his gospel. 
^^We serve in newness of the spirit, not in oldness 
of the letter'' (Rom. 7 : 6), ^^ for the letter killeth, 
but the spirit giveth life " (II Cor. 3:6). To bring 
freedom from the confines of a binding law, and to 
lay hold on the liberty that is the privilege of sons 
of God — this was the starting point of his message. 



I CAN DO ALL THINGS 11 

' ^ For all ye are sons of God through faith in Christ 
Jesus'' (Gal. 3 : 26). ''Thou art no longer a bond- 
servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir 
through God" (Gal. 4:7). 

With his gospel of freedom went also his message 
of brotherhood. In the glorious breadth and good 
will of the Christian gospel, were blotted out all 
distinctions of race and class. ''There can be 
neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond 
nor free, there can be no male and female ; for ye 
all are one man in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28). 
"One man in Christ Jesus" — this was the pivot 
of his social gospel. The brotherhood for which 
he worked was to be spiritually founded. It was 
the expression in human relations of the inner, 
vital fellowship with Christ which was the main- 
spring of his own life. The realization of the family 
ideal, which is the aim of Christian democracy to- 
day, was the goal of Paul's Christianity. 

^^ Hearts I have won of sister or of brother 
Quick on the earth or hidden in the sod, 
Lo, every heart awaiteth me, another 
Friend in the blameless family of God.''* 

Freedom and brotherhood are ideals that are slow 
of realization. The hope of their achievement lies 
in a third of Paul's great teachings — the gospel of 
the new start. "Wherefore if any man is in Christ, 
he is a new creature; the old things are passed 
away; behold they are become new" (II Cor. 5: 

* Myers : Saint Paul, 



12 PAUL THE CONQUEEOE 

17). The *^new man" can look back without bit- 
terness and without fear upon the mistakes of the 
past, and can look forward with courage to the 
broad inviting fields of new endeavor. The *^new 
man'' has taken the road of progress, and forget- 
ting the things which are behind and stretching 
forward to the things which are before, he can press 
on toward the goal. Freedom, brotherhood, prog- 
ress, these are the rallying cries of our world to- 
day. To an age that asks for leadership toward 
these ideals, Paul the Apostle has a living gospel 
to speak. 

To a weak, struggling Christian community, with 
a leadership that, though loyal, was all too imper- 
fect, came Paul of Tarsus, who had seen Jesus on 
the Damascus road and who had heard his call to 
service. His pioneer vision and his tireless leader- 
ship saved the early church from a narrow, exclu- 
sive existence and opened the way for a world-wide 
Christianity. ^^He was the greatest missionary of 
the age, and in him the Gospel fought its mightiest 
battles and won its most splendid victories, "t But 
Paul 's service cannot be measured by his gift to his 
own time. Great as that service was, it was only 
the beginning of the work he was to do. His work 
as a pioneer in the first century was in reality a 
gift to all the generations of Christians who have 
followed him, because in his living and his thinking 
he was touching at great, persistent human needs. 

f McGiffert: The Apostolic Age, p. 423. 



I CAN DO ALL THINGS 13 

In his spirit of triumphant courage, in his life of 
stupendous achievement, in his gospel of freedom, 
of brotherhood, and of progress, he is speaking to 
our age as really as he did to the first century. To 
us there comes ringing across all these years, his 
challenge to life, his appeal to service. To the 
great adventure of Christian living, Paul the Apos- 
tle calls to-day, ^^I can do all things in him that 
strengtheneth me." 



CHAPTER II 
A JEW OF TARSUS 

Acts 21: 39; 22: 27-28; 26: 5; Phil. 3:4-5; 
II Cor. 11: 22; Deut. 6 

^ ^ I am a Jew, of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no 
mean city." 

Paul was proud to claim his connection with the 
place of his birth. And Tarsus was a city worthy 
of that pride. Standing in the broad, fruitful plain, 
between the Tarsus Mountains and the Mediter- 
ranean Sea, it was the meeting place for the long 
caravans of camels that came along the trade routes 
across the mountains, and the great merchant ships 
that came sailing up the river from the sea. Back 
among those snow-clad peaks that sheltered the 
city on the north, there was one narrow gateway 
that led out into the broad plains beyond the moun- 
tains. The Cilician Gates, as they were called, had 
served in olden days as the door between East and 
West for the great armies of the Greeks and Per- 
sians. Now the roadway carried Roman legions 
from the city that was the center of the Mediter- 
ranean world out to her provinces in the East. And 
the trade of both the East and the West found its 
highway here. 

Tarsus, because it stood at this meeting place 



A JEW OF TARSUS 15 

for trade and travel between East and West, had 
become the dwelling place of many nationalities and 
races. Greeks, Romans, and Jews all found their 
home within her gates, and with the ships that came 
up the river from the Mediterranean, and with the 
caravans that came down from the mountains, came 
sailors and tradesmen from the far eastern lands, 
from the islands of the sea, and from the country 
of the Nile. 

Paul's Early Home 

In a busy, cosmopolitan city like this, Paul spent 
the early years of his life. Try to picture him as a 
boy, alert, keen, and responsive as he must have 
been to all the interests of life about him, and try 
to imagine what his life would be in the midst of 
this great commercial city. Shipping in the river 
that led to the great harbor only ten miles away, 
raft driving to float down the river the logs cut in 
the mountains, trading between the dwellers in the 
city and the travelers who came along the trade 
routes, bargaining in the market place of such fer- 
vor as only Orientals know — all these would claim 
the interest of a growing boy and would lead his 
imagination far beyond the limits of his own home 
life. Touch with the life of the world and knowl- 
edge of men and affairs came naturally to him, as 
they never could have come in a little provincial 
town. 

But Tarsus was more than a city of commercial 
interests; it was a great university town. In no 



16 PAUL THE CONQUEROK 

other city, unless it were in Athens or in Alexan- 
dria, would Paul have come in contact with such 
an earnest love of letters as he saw in Tarsus, or so 
close an application to the study of philosophy and 
the religious cults of the time. Athenodorus, who 
was the greatest teacher of his day and the tutor 
of Caesar Augustus, had lived in Tarsus just before 
the time of Paul and had helped to make the uni- 
versity known in all the world. And so with the 
traders, the sailors, and the men of business, there 
came another type of stranger within the gates of 
Tarsus, men of the meditative, scholarly type, the 
thinkers of the day, who came together to discuss 
the problems of thought that puzzled the minds of 
men. Paul would catch glimpses of groups of stu- 
dents gathered in the schools along the banks of the 
river, and stories of the poets and teachers and ora- 
tors who came to the university would fire his imag- 
ination and quicken his zeal for the learning of the 
Greek world. 

His Touch with Greek Thought and Life 

For Tarsus, though a city of the eastern Mediter- 
ranean, was Greek in its language and its thought. 
From the earliest days of its history, it had been 
touched with the influence of Greece, for its first 
traders had been Greek sailors from the ^gean, 
and always Greeks had been among its settlers. At 
the time of Alexander's conquests, three hundred 
years before Paul was born, Greek armies had filled 
the Cilician plains, and never after that did Tarsus 



A JEW OF TAESUS 17 

lose the spirit of Greek thought and life. Jew 
though he was, Paul could not fail to grow in sym- 
pathy with the Greek world, because ''he had in- 
haled the language and the soul of Hellenism with 
the air of Tarsus. ' '* In its uniting of widely dif- 
fering interests, in its gathering of men of different 
races and customs, in its own civic history, growing 
from a simple oriental town to a Greek free city, 
and then to a center of Roman imperialism. Tarsus 
could well claim its title as the meeting place of 
the eastern and western worlds. 

Touch with the world of affairs, the hum of busi- 
ness, and the broad interests of a city that was both 
commercial and educational — this was the first 
schooling of Paul of Tarsus. It was training in 
tolerance, in sympathy with men, and in independ- 
ence of thought. Surely it was an influence guid- 
ing him, even though unconsciously, into the ' ' mys- 
tic bond of brotherhood that makes all men one. ' ' 

Compare the early environment of Paul with that 
of Jesus, and note the essential differences between 
them. 

Can you find evidences in their words that they 
carried to mature life the impress of the early sur- 
roundings ? List such as occur to you. 

His Jewish Home 

The home of Paul's boyhood was a world of 
activity, busy with the concerns of men, but in a 
certain sense, his family was in it and not of it. 

* Deissmann : Saint Paul, p. 43. 



18 PAUL THE CONQUEEOE 

His people belonged to that company of Jews who 
had gone forth from their own land and had settled 
among aliens, but whose hopes and desires were still 
centered upon the land and people left behind. 
They never identified themselves wholly with the 
new community life but remained a peculiar peo- 
ple, cherishing their own faith, adhering to their 
old traditions, and zealously guarding the customs 
of their fathers. Read Phil. 3 : 4-5, Rom. 11 : 1, 
II Cor. 11 : 22, Acts 26 : 5, and Acts 23 : 6, and no- 
tice Paul's pride in this Jewish inheritance and in 
all the religious significance of such a heritage as 
his. 

We have no record of the home life that he knew, 
but it is not hard to imagine the conditions that pre- 
vailed there. We know the Jewish family ideals, 
the strict adherence to the formalities of religion 
in the home, the respect for the minute details of 
the law, the cherishing of traditions and ideals from 
the past, the reverence for authority, and the stern 
effort to withstand any taint of alien influence. 
These ideals would be the more earnestly sought 
in a home of the stricter sort, such as PauPs must 
have been. '^ After the straitest sect of our reli- 
gion I lived a Pharisee '' (Acts 26:5). We can 
picture the child of such a home listening to stories 
of the great heroes of the Hebrew faith, thrilling 
with pride at the intrepid deeds of those men of old, 
and yielding his own allegiance to the faith for 
which they lived. 



A JEW OF TARSUS 19 

Even more stirring to a boy like Paul than the 
tales of the great heroes of the past, would be the 
stories told him of the hope of the Jewish people. 
He would hear how one day there would come a 
leader of the people who would make of them a na- 
tion to rule all the world. Those would be the 
great days for the chosen people of God, and always 
they must be watching and waiting and preparing 
for that time. And until that day, they must keep 
the commandments and honor the law and keep 
themselves apart from other nations, a people holy 
and blameless before God. These were thoughts 
that would quicken the imagination and thrill the 
heart of a boy, and he would resolve to do his part 
to make the nation ready for the Day of the Lord. 
But his part at present meant duties not wholly 
inviting to a lively, active boy. There were minute 
ceremonies to be observed, and there were long 
passages of the Law and the Prophets that must be 
learned by heart. In such a home as his the old 
command would surely be observed : 

^'And these words which I command thee this day shall 
be upon thy heart ; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto 
thy children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy 
house.'' (Deut. 6: 6-7.) 

Paul's ready command of scripture and the natu- 
ralness with which he turns to it later in his letters 
bears testimony to the fact that the ancient com- 
mand was honored in his home. Though a citizen 



20 PAUL THE CONQUEROE 

of Tarsus, Paul was brought up to be a ''Hebrew 
of the Hebrews. ' ' 

"What would be the natural contributions of such 
training as Paul received in his home, to his charac- 
ter and equipment for life ? 

"What elements in it would further his work as a 
Christian missionary ? 

What elements would hinder that work ? 

In what form is the exclusive ideal of the Phar- 
isees present in modem Christianity? 

Sis Roman Citizenship 

A Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, and living in 
the midst of a civilization that was Greek in spirit, 
Paul was also a Roman citizen. As a boy in Tar- 
sus he was accustomed to the sight of Roman sol- 
diers, for Tarsus, though Greek in its spirit and its 
language, was a free city of the Roman empire. 
And as he came to see the splendid discipline of 
the legions of the empire, and heard how they had 
fought to make one city ruler of all the world, and 
as he heard the travelers who came to Tarsus tell- 
ing of Rome's splendid laws and her great system 
of roads, Paul would be glad to remember that citi- 
zenship in this great empire was his by right of 
inheritance. How this right of citizenship came to 
Paul's father, we do not know, but we are sure 
that it was a source of pride to Paul that he could 
say, ''I am a Roman born" (Acts 22:28). The 
fact that citizenship afforded protection, and gave 



A JEW OF TARSUS 21 

him special privileges before the law and prestige 
among his fellows, made it a privilege to be es- 
teemed, but perhaps even more important was its 
effect upon his thinking as he was growing to man- 
hood. 

In his sense of partnership in the greatest ad- 
ministrative enterprise of the age, Paul was broad- 
ening his thought and making real in his conscious- 
ness the idea of a world-family. A world-family 
in government could later become in his thought a 
world-family in faith and in brotherhood, and we 
are not surprised to hear Paul the Roman saying 
in his later years to his Christian brethren, ''Our 
citizenship is in heaven'' (Phil. 3:20). The dig- 
nity of citizenship in a world empire had become 
to him a symbol of the spiritual calling of man. 
And even as a child in Tarsus, hearing of the prow- 
ess of the great empire, and feeling himself a part 
of that broad movement that was sweeping all the 
earth, he was growing in the breadth of mind and 
the largeness of vision that were later to make him 
not merely a citizen of Rome, but a citizen ' ' worthy 
of the gospel of Christ'' (Phil. 1:27). 

Reared in a Jewish home, but touched by the busy 
life of a great city of the Greek world, and caught 
into the spirit of a world empire, Paul began all 
unconsciously his training for his apostleship of 
Jesus Christ. As he looked back in later years on 
these beginnings of his schooling in life, he wrote 
that God had ''separated" him from his very birth 



22 PAUL THE CONQUEROR 

and '* called'' him ''through his grace'' (Gal. 1: 
15). No wonder that he recognized in the facts of 
this experience a special training for the task that 
was to carry him into many lands and make him a 
messenger to many peoples. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What were the advantages for Paul in his early 

environment in Tarsus ? 

2. Of what value to him would be the influence of 

the Greek culture of this city? 

3. "What contributions to his moral and religious 

equipment would come from his training in 
a strict Jewish home? 

4. What would be the influence of the Roman citi- 

zenship on his ideals ? On his conduct ? 

5. In what ways would these strains of influence 

tend to counteract one another? In what 
ways would they strengthen one another ? 

6. In his whole environment and experience as a 

child, what elements tended to develop and 
strengthen Paul's religious interest? 

7. What stimulus to his religious life, similar to 

that which Paul received, does the average 
child of to-day receive ? What in addition ? 
What does he lack? 

8. What constructive suggestions can you give for 

the improvement of religious education in 
America to-day? 



A JEW OF TAESUS 23 

SUGGESTED READING 

Deissmann : St. Paul. Ch. 4. 

Mathews : Paul the Dauntless. Ch. 2. 

Wood : The Life and Ministry of Paul the Apos- 
tle. Ch. 2. 

Eamsay: St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman 
Citizen. Ch. 2. 

Ramsay : The Cities of St. Paul. pp. 85 ff. 



CHAPTER III 
AT THE FEET OF GAMALIEL 

Acts 22: 3; 26: 4; 5: 34-40 

A Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Roman citizen, a 
child of Greek civilization and culture, Paul of 
Tarsus looked out upon life, confident by reason 
of the heritage that was his. Disciplined in body 
and mind by the rigorous training of the Jewish 
home and school, keen and alert in his thinking, he 
faced the day of his departure from home, we may 
well imagine, as a young adventurer faring forth 
in search of conquest. 

PauVs Trade 

Already, in accordance with the Jewish custom, 
Paul made himself master of a trade or handcraft 
that should be his resource in time of need. His 
was the trade of a tentmaker, naturally enough, 
since the most important industry of his native city 
was the weaving of coarse cloth from the long hair 
of the goats that pastured on the Cilician hills, and 
the fashioning from it of tent covers ready to be 
used for shelter by the wandering peoples of the 
Ea^t. Read I Thess. 2 : 9, Acts 18 : 3, Acts 20 : 34- 
35, and note how this skill stood Paul in good stead 



AT THE FEET OF GAMALIEL 25 

later. Now, as he was setting forth on the first 
great adventure of his life, it would be counted a 
valuable part of his equipment, giving him a whole- 
some confidence in his own powers. 

Early Education 

Already he had outstripped the boys of his own 
age in the learning that the Jewish schools of his 
own city afforded (see Gal. 1: 14), and was eager 
for new intellectual tasks. And what was this 
learning that he had gained in the schools of Tar- 
sus? We do not know exactly, but perhaps he 
would learn to read and write in Aramaic, the 
spoken language of the Jews at that time, and 
surely he must learn to read Hebrew, the sacred 
language of the Law and the Prophets. Perhaps 
it was here that he began the study of the Greek 
Bible from which he quotes so readily in his letters. 
Certainly he was memorizing portions of the law, 
and growing steadily more familiar with the history 
and the traditions of his fathers. In the house of 
prayer as well, he would be growing in the knowl- 
edge of the law and in the appreciation of the 
glorious past of Israel's religion. The synagogue 
stood as the center of the Jewish community life, 
and thither as a boy Paul must have been taken by 
his parents, not only on Sabbaths but for week-day 
services as well. Here in the recitation of the law, 
in the prayers, and in the reading of the scriptures, 
even the young boys might take part, and they 



26 PAUL THE CONQUEROR 

could feel themselves sharing in the family life of 
this chosen people of God. 

Summing up the influence of home, school, and 
synagogue in Tarsus, in how far do you feel that 
Paul would be strengthened by it for his life task 

(a) In intellectual power? 

(b) In self-control? 

(c) In friendliness and sympathy with men? 
In how far would it tend to limit him along these 

lines ? 

Show how his training tended to emphasize to 
him the dignity of manual labor. 

As a child, Paul must have heard much of Jeru- 
salem, the home city of his faith. Like the exiles 
of olden days, Jews who lived away from the father- 
land would yearn for the inspiration and joy of 
worship in the holy city, and would repeat with 
genuine feeling the psalmist's song: 

*^If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, 
Let my right hand forget her cunning. '' 

(Ps. 137: 5.) 

Jews of Tarsus who went as pilgrims to the feasts 
in Jerusalem would return with wonderful stories 
of the great palace that Herod had built, of the 
gardens about it, of his theater and gymnasium, of 
the Roman garrison tower, but most of all of the 
temple itself, that glorious structure of shining 
white stone and flashing gold, whose beauty sym- 
bolized to all the Jewish people the glory of their 



AT THE FEET OF GAMALIEL 27 

faith and the holiness of their worship of the God 
of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. 

Stories of the people gathered from many cities, 
of the crowded temple courts, of the sacrifices and 
festal processions would come back with the pil- 
grims from the feasts and would claim Paul 's inter- 
est. But best of all to a boy who had chosen to 
become a rabbi, a leader in the faith, an interpreter 
of the law, would be the stories of the temple 
schools, where the great teachers of the time sat 
daily, each with his group of students about him, 
expounding the law, arguing the minute points of 
its application, and discussing the great historic 
question that had come down from the prophets of 
old, the coming of Israel's Messiah. 

Training in Jerusalem 

Such was the life to which Paul came when he 
left the schools of his home city. At exactly what 
age he went we do not know, but if he went at the 
normal age for such a step, it would be when he 
was from thirteen to sixteen years of age. And it 
would be a significant change from a city of such 
broad and cosmopolitan interests as Tarsus to this 
city that was the historic home of the Jewish faith. 
However many the strangers from other lands and 
races who were within her gates, Jerusalem was al- 
ways, first and last, the city of David, ' ^ builded as 
a city that is compact together, whither the tribes 
go up'' (Ps. 122:3-4). An ancient prophet had 
foretold that many nations should come unto her, 



28 PAUL THE CONQUEROE 

but they were to come because she had wisdom and 
instruction to give, 

'*for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of 
Jehovah from Jerusalem (Is. 2: 3). 

No external touch of foreign influence or power 
could dominate the inner course of her life. In the 
midst of evidences of Roman occupation, the life 
of the Jewish community went on, cherishing its 
traditions from the past, and looking for the day 
when the center of the whole earth should be the 
throne of the house of David. Within her walls 
there was a unity of interest, a solidarity of na- 
tional feeling that could not be disturbed, and here, 
as in no other surroundings in all the world, would 
a Jewish student grow to revere and honor the past, 
to take pride in the religious heritage that was his, 
and to found his hope on the hope of his race. 

To a student like Paul the temple would be the 
center of his life. Here he would go daily to join 
a group of students who sat in one of the pillared 
porches at the feet of some teacher of the law. 
Here he would share in the sacred services, the 
feasts, and the morning and evening sacrifices. 
Here he would give his best as a student, to honor 
the Law and the Prophets. But close by the temple 
on the north, stood another building toward which 
he would also look with pride, Castle Antonia, the 
symbol of Rome 's power here in this far-away coun- 
try of Palestine. To many a Jew in Jerusalem, 
this Roman garrison would be a hateful thing, a 



i 



AT THE FEET OF GAMALIEL 29 

reminder that the glory of the house of Israel had 
gone down in defeat before the might of empire. 
As a Jew, Paul would share this resentment and 
would look forward to the day when a prince of 
the house of David should rule over an empire that 
would be eternal. 

But he must have looked with mingled feelings 
on a sight like this, for as a Roman citizen, he would 
thrill with pride that he had a part in all this mili- 
tary dignity and imperial sway. As he saw the sol- 
diers guarding the castle, heard the clank of arms 
against the stonework, or caught the gleam of a 
helmet flashing in the sun, perhaps there would 
rise to his thought the question, why he, who had 
the right to share in the greatness of this mighty 
empire, had come away eastward to take up a stu- 
dent 's life. Perhaps it would startle a longing 
within him to cast aside all these minute cavilings 
with an ancient law, and take his part in the mili- 
tary glory of an empire that could sway the whole 
world. The broad, free highways to Rome were 
always open and alluring, but he had chosen the 
path of a pilgrim to the holy city. His hope was 
built on a surer foundation than any power of em- 
pire. With the psalmist he could say : 

' ' Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place 
In all generations. 

Before the mountains were brought forth, 
Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, 
Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. ^' 

(Ps. 90: 1-2.) 



30 PAUL THE CONQUEKOK 

Gamaliel 

The Jewish scheme for the education of a reli- 
gious leader put heavy responsibility upon his 
teacher. An old admonition that pointed out to a 
student his proper attitude toward his teachers, told 
him to ^^ powder himself in the dust at their feet 
and to drink in their words with thirstiness. ' ' For 
a glimpse of the teacher under whom Paul studied, 
read Acts 22 : 3, Acts 5 : 34-40. 

What estimate would you form of the man from 
these passages? 

What would be the general trend of his influ- 
ence? 

The nature of the study in Jerusalem would be 
similar to that in the Jewish school of Tarsus in its 
emphasis upon the law as the heart of religion, 
but here the study would be more detailed, and at 
the same time, more extensive. The memorizing of 
both the written and the oral law, the discussion 
of minute rules for conduct, the interpretation of 
detailed points of law, and speculation in regard to 
the promised Messianic age, would be the central 
points in the educational program of the future 
rabbi. 

What traits did this training tend to develop in 
Paul- 
Originality? or reverence for the traditional? 

Breadth of thought? or satisfaction with the 
truth as already revealed? 



AT THE FEET OF GAMALIEL 31 

Readiness for action? or an inclination to with- 
draw from life for speculation? 

Eesourcef ulness ? or a tendency to act according 
to prescribed rules? 

In the light of your answers to these questions, 
what do you consider was Paul's real equipment for 
living, as a result of this experience in Jerusalem ? 

Had he continued his career as a Jewish rabbi, 
what elements in his training would have been of 
special value to him? 

In the career to which he actually came what 
elements were valuable ? 

As Paul came to the end of these years of study 
in Jerusalem, he faced his work as rabbi with ear- 
nestness and seriousness of purpose. The experi- 
ence at Jerusalem had but strengthened his convic- 
tion that in the keeping of the law was the salva- 
tion of both the individual and the nation. To the 
proclaiming of this gospel he now dedicated every 
power. The enthusiasm and vigor of his youth, the 
confidence that came from his heritage and train- 
ing, the soundness of his conviction, confirmed by 
the authority of his teachers in Jerusalem — all these 
sent him forth burning with the desire to make 
his message live and bear fruit in his nation, the 
chosen people of God. He was an apostle to the 
Jews of the historic faith of Judaism. 



32 PAUL THE CONQUEROR 

QUESTIONS 

1. Make a list of the aims which you think Paul 

would have stated as his at the time when 
he completed his training at Jerusalem. 

2. How many of them would be included in the 

purpose of a Christian to-day? 

3. What were the outstanding characteristics of 

the religion that Paul was studying at Jeru- 
salem ? 

4. What elements in Paul's training and experi- 

ence thus far had fitted him to be a leader 
in such a faith? 

5. In what ways would Gamaliers influence 

strengthen Paul ? In what ways, would it 
limit him? 

6. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul 

said, ^^The letter killeth, but the spirit 
giveth life" (II Cor. 3:6). In how far 
would this have been expressive of his atti- 
tude at the close of his training in Jeru- 
salem ? 

7. How valuable to the modern Christian do you 

consider rules for conduct ? 

8. How does religion differ from morality ? 

9. Eead Acts 22 : 3 and note Paul's own summary 

of his attitude of mind at this time. What 
in your own words does it mean? 
10. What was the result of this attitude as new 
light came to Paul? 



AT THE FEET OF GAMALIEL 33 

SUGGESTED READING 

Stalker : The Life of St. Paul. Ch. 2. 
Mathews : Paul the Dauntless. Chs. 3 and 4. 
Wood : The Life and Ministry of Paul the Apos- 
tle. Ch. 3. 

Robinson : The Life of Paul. Ch. 2. 



CHAPTER IV 
PERSECUTING THE CHURCH 

Acts 5: 17-32; 6; 22: 19-21 

During these years of Paul's boyhood and youth, 
there was growing up in the little village of Naza- 
reth in Galilee, far away from Tarsus, another 
Jewish boy, who, as He toiled at a carpenter's bench, 
was cherishing a vision of a world transformed, and 
was longing to be about his Father's business. He, 
like Paul, had listened to stories of the great days 
of Israel's past, and of the hopes of her seers and 
prophets for her future. He, also, had shared in the 
synagogue 's services and had heard the scribes and 
the priests teaching that in the keeping of the law 
lay the way to life. But deep in his heart He knew, 
as growing to manhood He pondered these things, 
that a merely outward observance of the law could 
never bring men to their highest destiny. His it 
was to teach men that Love is the fulfillment of the 
law, and to bring to its fullest emphasis the mes- 
sage forecast by Israel's prophets, that in the 
spirit, and not in the letter of the law, lies the 
heart of religion. 

Jesus of Nazareth 

And then there came the time when He must tell 
his message to the world, and He went about the 




PERSECUTING THE CHURCH 



countryside, teaching in words so simple and so 
appealing that even the humble fisherf oik and little 
children understood and turned to Him; but in 
words so lofty and so forceful that the great men 
of the day, the scribes and Pharisees, and the rulers 
of the synagogue feared Him when they heard of 
his teaching. And when their anger grew to a 
hatred that meant death for Him, and they plotted 
together to see how they might take Him, even 
then He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, 
and fearlessly taught in the temple. And when 
they put Him to death, the death of a common 
criminal, the most humiliating they knew, still his 
disciples maintained that He was the Christ, the 
Son of the living God, and that his were the words 
of eternal life. And although the authorities for- 
bade them to preach about Him and stoned them 
for persisting, they replied boldly, '^We must obey 
God rather than men'' (Acts 5 : 29). ^^ We cannot 
but speak the things which we saw and heard" 
(Acts 4:20). So the little company was steadily 
growing of those who gave their allegiance to Jesus 
of Nazareth and who were purposing to tell the 
story of his life and of his message. 

These were happenings that were stirring the 
hearts of men in Jerusalem not long after Paul had 
finished his student days there. Where Paul was at 
this time we cannot be wholly sure, but even in 
far-away Tarsus, where quite naturally he might 
have returned to take some ofiice in the synagogue, 



36 PAUL THE CONQUEROE 

rumors must have come to him of this new leader, 
who was teaching with such authority things that 
were utterly at variance with the beliefs that were 
Paul's very life. 

Imagine the conversation which might take place 
in Tarsus between Paul and a traveler who had 
been present in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus ' 
ministry. How would such a traveler, if unsympa- 
thetic with Jesus, report the story of the last week 
in Jerusalem and the crucifixion ? 

Eead Deut. 21 : 22-23 and judge what effect the 
manner of Jesus' death would have upon a man 
trained in Jewish thought. 

What estimate would Paul be likely to make of 
the disciples' power to succeed after Jesus' death? 

Paul and the Followers of Jesus 

On his return to Jerusalem, Paul threw himself, 
heart and soul, into the task of blotting out this 
new movement. With what utter consternation he 
would learn, in more detail, of the activities and 
the purposes of this new sect ! To him it would be 
unthinkable that a crucified blasphemer should be 
the long-heralded Messiah, Israel's Prince of the 
House of David. It would be criminal to allow 
those who made such claims for Him to continue 
their activity. Had not the law taught him that it 
was the duty of every loyal Jew to contend against 
those who taught heresy in any form ? Read Deut. 
13 : 6-11, and note the unequivocal command. 



PERSECUTING THE CHURCH 37 

*^ Neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt 
thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: but 
thou shalt surely kill him/' 

To one whose zeal for this religion of Moses was 
the consuming passion of his life, there seemed to 
be open but one course of action. "With all the 
fervor and strength at his command, Paul now 
plunged into the work of bringing this new heresy 
to an end. This was the first great challenging task 
of his mature life and to it he brought his best in 
talent and equipment, keenness of mind, energy 
and vigor in action, and the assurance that came 
from thorough training, all backed by a firm con- 
viction that his course was right, and concentrated 
under a purpose so strong that it knew no thwart- 
ing. For Paul's own account of his activity at this 
time, read Gal. 1 : 13. 

List the influences thus far in Paul's life that 
had tended to produce this intolerance. 

Do you judge him cruel by nature by reason of 
this conduct? 

Paul and Stephen 

The orthodox were struggling against the Chris- 
tians by force, but they were using argument as 
well. The scene recorded in Acts 6 : 8-10, must 
have been typical of many attempts to down this 
new faith by force of reasoning. Here was a young 
Jew, of foreign birth as Paul was, brilliant in de- 
bate, well versed in the history and the law of 



38 PAUL THE CONQUEEOR 

Israel, winning in personality, able to out-argue 
the whole company of Jews from the provinces, who 
were gathered at their synagogue in Jerusalem. 
Read Acts 6 : 8-10 and estimate Stephen 's charac- 
ter and ability. A sketch of his personality as re- 
flected in this passage, has been suggested as fol- 
lows: 

1. Full of faith (vs. 5). 

2. Full of the Holy Ghost (vs. 5). 

3. Full of power (vs. 8). 

4. Full of irresistible energy and power (vs. 
10). 

5. Full of sunshine (vs. 15). 

6. An intrepid witness for God (ch. 7).* 

In how far could these same attributes be applied 
to Paul at this time ? 

Wherein lay the essential difference in the spirit 
of these two men? 

Read Acts 6 : 11 — 8 : 1 for the remainder of 
Stephen's story. Note that facing injustice at his 
trial, he appeared, not as an abused, frightened 
prisoner, but as a champion of a great cause, a man 
whose daring faith made his face glow with tri- 
umphant courage. 

At what point in his defense was the anger of the 
Jews aroused to the point of attack? 

"Were his charges against the Jews valid? 

Did he answer those that they brought against 
him? 

* D. L. Moody. 



PERSECUTING THE CHURCH 39 

What was the aim of his speech ? 

What was Paul 's part in the attack on him ? 

This is the first mention of Paul in the story of 
the early church as given in Acts. His first contact 
with Christianity was that of an antagonist, coun- 
tenancing the most extreme measures for the sake 
of rooting out this perverse, heretical sect. To him 
at this time it doubtless seemed a successful initial 
step in a program of thorough warfare, and yet 
there must have been elements in this scene to make 
him stop and question. The dignity and poise of 
that winsome young enthusiast, the glory of his 
triumphant faith, which made his face *'as it had 
been the face of an angel, ' ' the prayer that revealed 
a spirit utterly victorious over self, utterly dedi- 
cated to the gospel that he preached — these could 
not but challenge the thinking of a man like Paul, 
and startle, if only momentarily, his opposition to a 
faith that could yield results like these. 

Surely the memory of this devoted life, whose 
ideals were made vivid to him through the conta- 
gion of a winning personality, could not be lightly 
set aside. Was Paul's own allegiance to an ideal, 
later, even to the point of death, a reflection in any 
measure of this influence? (See Acts 20:24 and 
21 : 12-14. ) Even at the moment, as he sought 
justification in the ancient law, ^^ Neither shall thine 
eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare him,'' the 
new ideal must have been forcing its way in those 
ringing words, *^Lord, lay not this sin to their 



40 PAUL THE CONQUEROE 

charge. ' ' How often would Paul live over this first 
touch with the Christian faith, and how often would 
the recollection express itself in stinging self-re- 
proach, as we know it did in Jerusalem, ' ' And when 
the blood of Stephen, thy witness, was shed, I also 
was standing by and consenting, and keeping the 
garments of them that slew him'' (Acts 22 : 20). 

' ' Stephen, who died while I stood by consenting, 
Wrought in his death the making of a life, 
Bruised one hard heart to thought of swift repenting, 
Fitted one fighter for a nobler strife. 

' ' Stephen, the Saint, triumphant and forgiving. 
Prayed while the hot blows beat him to the earth. 
Was that a dying? Eather was it living! 
Through his soul 's travail my soul came to birth. 

'' Stephen, the Martyr, full of faith and fearless. 
Smiled when his bruised lips could no longer pray — 
Smiled with a courage undismayed and peerless — 
Smiled! — and that smile is with me night and day. 

'^ O, was it I that stood there all consenting? 

I — at whose feet the young men's clothes were laid? 
Was it my will that wrought that hot tormenting? 
My heart that boasted over Stephen, dead? 

' ' Yes, it was I. And sore to me the telling. 
Yes, it was I. And thought of it has been 
God's potent spur my whole soul's might compelling 
These outer darknesses for Him to win." 

— Joh7i Oxenham, 



PERSECUTING THE CHURCH 41 

QUESTIONS 

1. List the causes that led Paul to his activity 

against the Christian community. 

2. Contrast the gospel which Jesus taught with 

Paul's conception of religion — 

(a) In its thought of God. 

(b) In its program of living. 

(c) In its attitude toward progress and growth. 

(d) In its ideal of tolerance. 

3. In what forms do we meet legalism in Chris- 

tianity to-day? 

4. Does the liberal element in modern Christianity 

overbalance to a dangerous degree ? 

5. In what sense did Paul experience defeat in his 

contact with Stephen ? 

6. In what points were the two men at one f 

7. State as exactly as you can the points at which 

their ideals clashed. 

8. Was Stephen's influence restricted by the fact 

that he was a man of lesser gifts than Paul ? 

9. What had he that Paul lacked at this time ? 

SUGGESTED READING 

Wood : The Life and Ministry of Paul the Apos- 
tle. Ch. 4.* 

Mathews : Paul the Dauntless. Ch. 6. 
Stalker : The Life of St. Paul. pp. 34-36. 
Robinson : The Life of Paul. pp. 46-50. 
Robertson : Epochs in the Life of Paul. Ch. 2. 



CHAPTER V 
THE HIGH CALLING 

Acts 9:1-9; 22: 3-11; 26: 1-19; Gal. 1: 15-16 

''But Saul laid waste the church, entering into 
every house and dragging away men and women, 
committed them to prison" (Acts 8:3). The chal- 
lenge in Stephen's triumphant death drove Paul 
with a more obstinate determination than ever to 
the completion of his task. ' ' Breathing out threat- 
enings and slaughter, ' ' he entered upon a relentless 
course. 

Laying Waste the Church 

Baffled by the strange paradox he had witnessed 
in Stephen's victorious defeat, he dealt his blows 
with an added vehemence. Was it that serene cour- 
age facing death so gloriously that made Paul ques- 
tion, even against his will, the power of his own 
legal religion to call forth a devotion like that? 
Was it that supreme victory of love and forgive- 
ness that put to shame his own labored efforts to 
walk within the confines of the law and urged him 
to vindicate the righteousness of his purpose ? Was 
it the sting of an almost unacknowledged self-re- 
proach, that he must share the responsibility for 
ending so gallant a life as this? Or was it the 



THE HIGH CALLING 43 

subtle urge of an inner apprehension, unconfessed 
even to himself, that somehow he himself must find 
''that more excellent way'' (I Cor. 12:31)? 

Spurred to his highest effort, he became a lead- 
ing spirit in the persecution, and determined not to 
rest until the church in Jerusalem had been de- 
stroyed. Successful to the point of driving the 
followers of Jesus out of Jerusalem, with what dis- 
may and alarm would he learn of the results of 
that effort ! ' ' They, therefore, that were scattered 
abroad went about preaching the word" (Acts 8: 
4). All through Judea and Samaria, and even up 
in the country of Syria and Phoenicia (Acts 11 : 19) , 
the followers of the Nazarene were standing to- 
gether for the faith they loved and were spreading 
their gospel through this wider area. Read Acts 
26 : 9-10, Gal. 1 : 13, and Phil. 3 : 6, and note the 
strength of purpose revealed here. Consider the 
effect on Paul when the discovery was made that all 
this activity had had just the opposite effect from 
the one desired. What would you expect Paul to 
do ? Acts 9 : 1, Acts 22 : 5, and Acts 26 : 12 show 
the counter-attack he planned. 

The Journey to Damascus 

Find Damascus on the map. It was a journey 
of perhaps six days from Jerusalem, northward 
through the Jordan valley, past the Samarian hills, 
skirting the Lake of Galilee, bearing to the east 
of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, and finally travers- 



44 PAUL THE CONQUEROR 

ing the broad, shadeless plateau which merges into 
the plain of Damascus. Why, we cannot help won- 
dering, was Damascus selected by Paul as the point 
of attack in this campaign against the followers 
of the Nazarene ? Was it that this greatest city of 
the northern country would serve as a more con- 
spicuous example than any city nearer to Jeru- 
salem ? Or was it a hope that if the movement were 
crushed in Jerusalem and Damascus, the impetus 
for its spread in the intervening country would 
be lost? Could it have been a combination of this 
with other business on which he was sent by the 
high priest? Whatever the reason for his choice 
of this distant city, when the decision was made, 
and the papers that gave official countenance to 
his harsh program were actually in his hand, he 
would hurry northward with no delays. The long 
hours of these traveling days would afford ample 
time for reflection and for the planning of his pro- 
gram of work. But must not many questionings 
have claimed his thought? Can you imagine what 
Paul might have been thinking as he journeyed — 

(a) About the purpose of his errand? 

(b) About the work already accomplished in 
Jerusalem ? 

(c) About the death of Stephen, to which he had 
so lately been a party ? 

(d) About his own method of work, and its 
justification in the light of the character and living 
of those whom he was persecuting ? 



THE HIGH CALLING 45 

Could he have failed to meet conflict in his think- 
ing at any one of these points? Is it surprising 
that Luke uses in one of his accounts of the great 
transforming experience that met Paul on the last 
day of the journey, the phrase, *Ho kick against 
the goad" (Acts 26:14), as descriptive of Paul's 
state of mind ? 

The Revelation 

Read carefully Luke's three accounts (Acts 9, 22, 
and 26) of this crucial event in Paul's life, and 
compare them with Paul's own words about it in 
Gal. 1 : 15-16. The study of the three accounts in 
Acts reveals the fact that they do not wholly agree 
as to the external events which accompanied the 
great experience, but their points of harmony lead 
us straight to the significant fact that Paul himself 
names as the heart of the whole experience, his 
consciousness of the presence of Jesus, the Son of 
God, and his realization of a call to allegiance and 
to service from this new Master and Lord. Study 
Paul's own words that deal with the crisis : 

Gal. 1 : 15-16. 

I Cor. 9 : 1. 

Phil. 3 : 4-12. 

I Cor. 15 : 5-8. 
Note how inevitably the emphasis falls upon 
the inner, spiritual reality, rather than upon the 
details of outward events. '^To reveal his Son in 
me" (Gal. 1 : 16), here is the heart of it for Paul — 



46 PAUL THE CONQUEEOE 

Jesus of Nazareth, not a crucified pretender, but 
the living Son of God. Try to state fully the mean- 
ing of this realization to Paul. Follow through its 
implications for him, and see its leading to the 
second great message of the experience, ''that I 
might preach him among the Gentiles" (Gal. 1: 
16). The intense reality of the whole experience 
comes home in Paul's unreserved commitment of 
himself from henceforward, to a living that should 
make its meaning real to all his fellow men. For 
him it was the beginning of ' ' all things new. ' ' In 
place of conflicting purposes and baffled effort, it 
meant the release of all his energy along one line 
of concentrated effort. It meant a goal worthy of 
his highest endeavor. It meant ''fighting the good 
fight" (I Tim. 6:12), and having "whereof to 
glory in the day of Christ" (Phil. 2 : 16) . It meant 
the possession in all circumstances of the "peace 
that passeth understanding" (Phil. 4:7). It meant 
light shining out of darkness, and "the knowledge 
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" 
(II Cor. 4:6). But how much of all this could he 
know when first he put forth his trust and an- 
swered, "What shall I do. Lord?" (Acts 22: 10.) 
For the moment, it was a step in the dark ; it needed 
willingness to trust, and to be led as a little child. 
Like Abraham, Paul "went out, not knowing 
whither he went" (Heb. 11 : 8), and like Abraham, 
he must be ready to bear the risks and the costs of 
the journey. 



THE HIGH CALLING 47 

The far-reaching results of this reversal of his 
thinking and living, Paul could not at once grasp. 
For the time, the sweeping force of it left him help- 
less and stunned, and he could only yield himself 
to the care of his companions for the remainder 
of the journey. Picture to yourself PauFs actual 
entrance into Damascus, a man shaken and over- 
powered by the shock he had experienced, and 
compare with this the reception he had anticipated 
from those who looked to him for official and capa- 
ble leadership against the followers of Jesus. Had 
his thoughts been centered upon himself, the hu- 
miliation of it must have conquered him, but there 
was no room here for little thoughts. Steadily 
there must have been pressing in upon him the 
great spiritual message of the experience, and for 
the sake of this, he could suffer all things — Jesus, 
the Son of God, from henceforward his Leader, his 
Lord, and he, Paul, a witness to all the world for 
Him. Step by step he was to traverse the road from 
chiefest of opponents to chiefest of advocates, a 
journey beset with difficulty and hardship, but per- 
haps no greater victory was won on all the way 
than this initial triumph that was not aggression, 
but submission. It was victory of the sternest sort, 
that in this first great venture of faith, he was not 
disobedient unto the heavenly vision. 



48 PAUL THE CONQUEEOB 

QUESTIONS 

1. Make a list of the points which are common to 

all three accounts in Acts of the Damascus 
road experience. 

2. What is the significance of these points ? 

3. Can you account in any way for the points 

of disagreement? 

4. How do you test the reality of the experience 

to Paul? 

5. Compare Paul's realization of his call to ser- 

vice with that of Moses, Samuel, Amos, and 
Isaiah. "What common elements do you 
find? 

6. What conditions did Paul fulfill in order to 

learn God's will for him? 

7. What relation do you find between his attitude 

in this crucial experience and his former 
attitude, which he described as ^^ zealous 
for God"? 

8. Such a revelation as came to Paul on the 

Damascus road could never have come to 
some men. What had he himself done to 
make it possible? 

9. What forces operate to-day to withhold the 

modern Christian from alertness and readi- 
ness for action in religious matters? 
10. How would you state the modem Christian 
purpose? Was it Paul's? 



THE HIGH CALLING 49 

11. What steps lead to the formation of a Chris- 
tian purpose to-day? Did Paul take these 
steps ? 

SUGGESTED READING 

Gardner: The Religious Experience of St. Paul. 
Ch. 2. 

Robinson : The Life of Paul. Ch. 3. 

Mathews : Paul the Dauntless. Ch. 7. 

Deissmann : St. Paul. Ch. 5. 

Wood : The Life and Ministry of Paul the Apos- 
tle. Ch. 5. 

Stalker: The Life of St. Paul. Ch. 3. 



CHAPTER VI 
A GREAT DOOR AND EFFECTUAL 

Acts 9:10-30; 22:10-11; Gal, 1:16-17; II Cor. 11:32-33 

The experience on the Damascus road meant a 
complete transformation of the thought, the pur- 
pose and the activity of Paul. No one goes through 
so vital a change as this without a struggle that 
hurts. To break with the past, to cast aside what 
is dear in tradition and association, to turn one's 
back on the things that inheritance, training and 
education have made both honorable and precious, 
is a course of action that demands resolution and 
courage. For a man whose nature was as intense 
as we know Paul's to have been, such a break is 
doubly hard. The adjustment to the new life could 
not be made in an instant nor without a real strug- 
gle. The beginnings of the process of adjustment 
were made in those first days in Damascus. 

Ananias 

Read Acts 9 : 10-25, 22 : 10-21 and compare these 
stories told by Luke with Paul's own story in Gal. 
1 : 16-17. Note the place given to Ananias in the 
story as told by Luke. In Paul's own story, where 
he is summarizing and giving only the essential 
points, he does not mention this phase of the ex- 



A GREAT DOOR AND EFFECTUAL 51 

perience, but we can easily imagine how in telling 
the story orally to Luke, Paul would relate the part 
that Ananias had played and would dwell on the 
comfort that had come to him through the helpful- 
ness of this new friend. Note the sympathetic ap- 
proach to Paul on the part of Ananias in the phrase, 
'^The God of our fathers'' (Acts 22:14), which 
linked the new experience with Paul's traditional 
mode of thought. Surely there was help and com- 
fort for Paul in the tenderness and understanding 
of Ananias, in the reassurance that he gave as to 
the meaning of the great experience, and in the 
mere fact of his human companionship in those try- 
ing days. 

Forgetting the Things that were Behind 

As we attempt to picture those days of troubled 
thought in Damascus, we realize the questions that 
must have been present in Paul's mind — questions 
of his future plans, of his relation to his past life, 
of the meaning of the two great realities that had 
been borne in upon his thought and of what his 
grasp on them demanded of him. There must have 
come back with gripping force the picture of those 
events in Jerusalem where he himself had caused 
the death of men and women for no other reason 
than that they had pledged their faith to this 
same Jesus whom he now knew as his Master and 
Lord. Doubtless there came before his eyes with 
startling vividness the picture of Stephen giving 



52 PAUL THE CONQUEEOE 

his full measure of allegiance to this same master. 
Surely, not only at Jerusalem but here in Damas- 
cus, Paul was saying to his Lord, ''And I impris- 
oned and beat in every synagogue them that be- 
lieved on thee, and when the blood of Stephen thy 
witness was shed, I also was standing by and con- 
senting, and keeping the garments of them that 
slew him. ' ' Distress and horror must have accom- 
panied every recollection of those days and it de- 
manded stern effort to keep remorse and self-re- 
proach from gaining control in his thought. Had 
he yielded to the temptation to dwell on the past, 
it would have meant despair and the complete crip- 
pling of his effort. Paul knew whereof he spoke 
when he said, ''Forgetting the things that are be- 
hind and stretching forward to the things that are 
before, I press on toward the goal, ' ' and it was out 
of the depths of his own experience that he wrote 
to the church at Corinth, "Wherefore if any man 
is in Christ, he is a new creature." 

Paul had a tremendous adjustment to make in 
his own thinking, and with it must go another, also 
difficult and demanding courage, the adapting of 
himself to others' thought of him. "With this thought 
in mind, read Acts 9 : 13, 26 : 21, and see what 
Paul had to undergo in convincing others of the 
sincerity of his new position. What did it mean 
for Paul that he must ask as a favor the privilege 
of becoming the humblest learner in the new group, 
and must plead for their faith in him, laying him- 



A GREAT DOOR AND EFFECTUAL 53 

self open to the charge of turncoat ? It was no light 
task to win the confidence of his new colleagues, 
but he had an even harder one in the explanations 
that must now be made to those who had been look- 
ing for his leadership in the struggle against Chris- 
tianity. To the Jews in Damascus who were eagerly- 
awaiting his help ; to the High Priest in Jerusalem, 
from whom he had received his letters appointing 
him to the mission of persecution; to Gamaliel, 
whose hopes were high for this pupil of his ; and not 
least, to his own family, who would be struck with 
horror at his allying himself with this heresy, he 
must now explain this strange step and make clear 
the strength of his new purpose. For a man like 
Paul, sensitive by nature, strong in affection, and 
sympathetic in feeling, this meant real suffering. 
For a man proud-spirited, accustomed to leadership 
as he was, it meant an utter humbling of his pride 
and a complete forgetfulness of self. Those days 
in Damascus were days of hard thinking. Adjust- 
ments were being made in his own ideas and in his 
relations with his fellow men. They were days that 
tested heavily the courage and the resolution of 
Paul. See Acts 9 : 11 for the secret of his poise. 

Read Gal. 1 : 17. It was a soul-stirring experi- 
ence that Paul had met. Thoughts were crowding 
to his mind, bewildering and disturbing, challeng- 
ing every power, mental and spiritual. He could 
not yet see his way through, and yet, beneath the 
turbulent agitation there was an underlying sense 



54 PAUL THE CONQUEEOR 

of security, a quiet confidence that God would lead 
him eventually to the right issue. 

Arabia 

In such a state of mind Paul craved quiet and a 
chance, alone with his God, to find his balance again, 
to think his problem through, and to find his own 
place in relation to this new order of thought. We 
can well understand this desire for prayer and 
thought, a time away from his friends and away 
from the pressing demands of life, to order his 
thoughts and to plan out a program of work. Back 
in the wide spaces of Arabia, perhaps in the desert, 
perhaps in some quiet village, Paul sought this soli- 
tude. Exactly what this time of quiet meant to him 
we do not know from any written record, but it is 
not hard to imagine that back there in the country 
that had been the earliest home of the Semitic peo- 
ples, Paul thought through both the old and the 
new experiences and found in his new spiritual 
leader the fulfillment of all that was best and finest 
in the religious thought of Israel, found in the new 
principle of love a higher expression of the old 
Mosaic law, and realized that his own grasp on this 
gospel sent him forth to tell its meaning to the 
world. The Damascus road experience had shown 
him new truth ; the experience in Arabia made this 
gospel his own. Thinking and praying he came 
to realize the power of Jesus Christ in a human 
life and from that time on, that gospel was not 
merely his, but his to give. 



A GREAT DOOR AND EFFECTUAL 55 

' ' Let no man think that sudden in a minute 
All is accomplished and the work is done; — 
Though with thine earliest dawn thou shouldst begin it 
Scarce were it ended in thy setting sun. 

^ ' Oh the regret, the struggle and the failing ! 
Oh the days desolate and useless years! 
Vows in the night, so fierce and unavailing ! 
Stings of my shame and passion of my tears! 

' ' How have I seen in Araby Orion, 
Seen without seeing, till he set again, 
Known the night-noise and thunder of the lion, 
Silence and sounds of the prodigious plain! 

* * How have I knelt with arms of my aspiring 
Lifted all night in irresponsive air. 
Dazed and amazed with overmuch desiring. 
Blank with the utter agony of prayer! 

** Shame on the flame so dying to an ember! 
Shame on the reed so lightly overset! 
Yes, I have seen him, can I not remember? 
Yes, I have known him, and shall Paul forget ?''* 

What does Gal. 1: 16 suggest as to Paul's indi- 
vidual contribution to the interpretation of Christ's 
message ? 

Is it possible for every Christian to make some 
gift to Christianity through his own individuality ? 
For every race ? 

In what forms do you meet to-day the attitude 
that Christianity is an Anglo-Saxon religion ? 

* Myers : Saint Paul, 



56 PAUL THE CONQUEKOK 

How do you account for the idea and how do you 
combat it? 

From the stay in Arabia, Paul came back to 
Damascus burning with enthusiasm for his new 
message, eager for work, but hardly yet able to fit 
himself into his place in the Christian group. Read 
II Cor. 11 : 32-33 and Acts 9 : 23-25 to see how vigor- 
ous was the activity against him. Opposition from 
those in authority led to his flight to Jerusalem, but 
here again he met difficulty in gaining the confi- 
dence of the disciples. The friendly word of Bar- 
nabas, however, brought him into close relations 
with Peter and James, and then followed days of 
close companionship and mutual sharing of experi- 
ence. 

The Beginnings of Work 

With what earnestness and eagerness must the 
two men, Peter and Paul, have related their indi- 
vidual experiences, and questioned each other about 
the reality and the potency of this new gospel, 
building together foundations for later work which 
neither one could have achieved alone ! With what 
fervent questionings Paul must have sought from 
Peter knowledge of the earthly life of this Jesus 
of Nazareth whose friendship he was only begin- 
ning to understand! 

Trace the story of Peter ^s friendship with Jesus 
and contrast this gradual realization of the divine 
mission of Jesus with PauPs more sudden grasp of 
this truth without the basis of daily companionship. 



A GEEAT DOOR AND EFFECTUAL 57 

Tarsus 

Again in Jerusalem, Paul met the distrust of 
people, perhaps because of his too aggressive cham- 
pionship of the new cause, and anger was so strong 
against him that he was forced to leave the city 
(Acts 9:29-30). From Jerusalem he went back 
to Tarsus, his own home city, and remained there 
probably ten years. How these years were occupied 
we have little in the record to tell us. They may 
have been, as Ramsay suggests, ' ' ten years of quiet 
work within the range of the synagogue and its 
influence.'' Possibly there were village tours, giv- 
ing Paul the opportunity to tell his gospel in the 
districts around Tarsus; surely there must have 
been hours of study and thought and long talks 
with friends and teachers in which he was giving 
the reason for the faith that was in him. As he 
touched men of other faiths, in this busy, cosmo- 
politan city, he was finding his new gospel chal- 
lenged at every point. He could not meet, as he 
must have done in Tarsus, the philosophies then 
current in the Hellenistic world, nor the oriental 
mystery-religions that were gathering converts 
through all the Mediterranean country, without 
testing his own gospel by them, and proving once 
more the foundations of his faith. There must have 
come something of enrichment to his own thinking 
from this contact with other faiths, and surely in 
the consciousness that in all these strange and often 
grotesque cults men were seeking after communion 



58 PAUL THE CONQUEROE 

with God, there would be a spur to his resolution 
to bring to them the knowledge of that ^^niore ex- 
cellent way. ' ' 

In Damascus, in Arabia, in Jerusalem, and in 
Tarsus, Paul was going through a period of testing 
and of trial. Our record of these years is incom- 
plete, but from the brief story as we have it, and 
from the results that can be seen in Paul's later 
work, we know that they were not inactive years. 
To the building up of conviction, to the strengthen- 
ing and steadying of faith, and perhaps to the be- 
ginnings of actual missionary work itself, these 
years were dedicated. The soundness of their prep- 
aration for service is attested in the effective work 
of the apostle who went forth from this experience, 
an ambassador of Christ to the Gentile world. 



QUESTIONS 

1. What was the real meaning to Paul of the ex- 

perience in Arabia? 

2. In the discovery of his own relationship to this 

new gospel what steps did he go through? 

3. What responsibilities did he face ? 

4. What does his action suggest as to the Chris- 

tian 's responsibility for both thought and 
action ? 

5. What value was there for Paul in the gradual 

progress into the work ? 



A GEEAT DOOR AND EFFECTUAL 59 

6. What lessons did he learn through the appar- 

ently unsuccessful work in Damascus and 
Jerusalem ? 

7. Would another course, midway between chief 

persecutor and chief witness, have been pos- 
sible for Paul? 

8. Had he been content merely to accept Chris- 

tianity in a passive fashion, what would 
have been the result for him ? for the cause 
of Christ? 

9. What tendencies do you see in the church to- 

day that indicate a merely passive accep- 
tance of Christianity on the part of its 
members ? 
10. In how far can such an attitude be rightly 
termed Christianity? 

SUGGESTED READING 

McGiffert : A History of Christianity in the Apos- 
tolic Age. pp. 161-168. 

Matheson: The Spiritual Development of St. 
Paul. Ch. 4. 

Wood : The Life and Ministry of Paul the Apos- 
tle. Ch. 6. 

Robinson : The Life of Paul. pp. 59-65. 



CHAPTER VII 
NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK 

Acts 2: 44—4: 36; 6: 7; 8: 1, 14, 25; 11: 19-30; 13, 14, 
15: 35; Gal. 2 

During the years which were serving to prepare 
Paul for his life task, the movement which had had 
its beginnings in the persecution of the followers of 
Jesus in Jerusalem had been steadily moving for- 
ward. 

The Growth of the Christian Community ' 

Gradually and quietly the little company ''of 
them that believed'' (Acts 4: 32) had been extend- 
ing its influence, until now, in Acts 9 : 31, we read 
of ''the church throughout all Judea and Galilee 
and Samaria." Trace this growth of the commu- 
nity briefly, by reference to the following passages : 

Acts 2 : 44-47. 

Acts 4 : 32-35. 

Acts 6 : 7. 

Acts 8 : 1, 14, 25. 

Acts 11 : 19. 

What contribution to this general movement did 
Philip make ? (Acts 8 : 26-40. ) 

What is the particular importance of his work ? 

How do you estimate his methods of work? 



NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK 61 

What problems were forced upon the Christian 
community by his success? 

The summary of the expansion of the community, 
which we have noted in Acts 9 : 31, may be said to 
mark the close of the first period of growth in the 
church. With the story of Peter and Cornelius in 
chapter 10, we approach a new stage in its develop- 
ment, a new problem to be faced. Review briefly 
the story of Peter and Cornelius, noting the fol- 
lowing points: 

(a) The character and position of Cornelius 
and the class of people of whom he was representa- 
tive. 

(b) The traditional principles and prejudices 
that Peter must overcome in order to accept the 
responsibility of the errand. 

(c) The criticism that would inevitably follow 
upon his acceptance of it. 

(d) The decisive nature of the step taken and 
of the conclusion stated by Peter in Acts 10 : 35. 

(e) The bearing of this incident on the develop- 
ment of the church, and its relation to Paul's life 
task. 

Do you judge that the church at Jerusalem, ac- 
cepting Peter's defense of his action, looked upon 
the event as exceptional, or did it seem to them a 
test case which should settle the precedent for the 
future ? 

The Church in Antioch 

In the course of the broadening movement whose 



62 PAUL THE CONQUEROE 

outlines we have been tracing, the church at An- 
tioch had had its beginning. Founded by men of 
Cyprus and Gyrene, at the time of the dispersion 
of the church from Jerusalem, it had extended a 
welcome to Greeks as well as Jews and was prosper- 
ing in this innovation. Read Acts 11 : 19-26 and 
note the stages there recorded in the growth of the 
church at Antioch. The importance of this city, 
then capital of the Eoman province of S5rria, re- 
nowned for its commercial and literary interests, 
and called by Josephus the third city of the empire, 
next to Alexandria and Rome, would make signifi- 
cant to the church at Jerusalem this ^^ report con- 
cerning them,'' and it was natural enough that 
they should send a delegate to carry the greetings 
of the mother church to this new one, and to serve 
to unify the interests of the new and the old com- 
munities. Barnabas was the man selected for this 
mission (Acts 4:36), and the success of his work 
is attested in the steady growth of the church. 

"What qualities can you see in Barnabas, even in 
this brief mention of his work, that would help to 
account for his success ? 

Paul, an Authorized Worker in the Christian 
Church 

To this vigorous, thriving new church, where 
new policies were originating, where first the fol- 
lowers of Jesus were called Christians, Paul, sum- 
moned by Barnabas to be his helper, came with all 



NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK 63 

his alertness and readiness for action, to begin in 
an authorized and official relationship, his work 
for the Church of Christ. With what eager enthu- 
siasm would Paul welcome this summons from the 
generous-hearted Barnabas, who had befriended 
him in Jerusalem when the other disciples had ques- 
tioned his sincerity! And now in this new field, 
where already the problem of the status of the 
Gentile in the church had begun to be felt, Paul, 
with his cherished purpose to preach Christ to the 
Gentiles, would feel a real call to service, and find 
scope for the working out of his plans and hopes. 
Note evidences of the strength and the spirit of 
the church of Antioch, both in the story of the 
relief expedition to Jerusalem in Acts 11 : 27-30, 
12 : 25, and in the plan for a missionary journey 
by Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13 : 1-3. 

The First Missionary Tour 

The story of Paul's first missionary campaign 
is recorded in Acts 13 and 14. Eead the record as 
a whole, tracing the course of the journey on a map, 
and then note in particular the following points : 

(a) The occasion of the journey and the prep- 
aration for it. 

(b) Paul's command of the situation and his 
success in his contact at Paphos with two impor- 
tant contemporary types ; the keen, sceptical Roman 
official, who looked for a faith that could satisfy 
his reason, and the sorcerer, who stood as the repre- 



64 PAUL THE CONQUEROR 

sentative of a system of religion then prevalent in 
which magic and superstition took precedence over 
reason. 

"What dramatic elements do you find in this first 
recorded incident of the journey? 

(c) Paul's method of work as evidenced by the 
story of his stay in Antioch in Pisidia. 

Does the course pursued by Paul here seem to 
you the logical one? 

(d) Paul's dealing with the pagan people at 
Lystra. 

Compare the situation with that at Pisidian An- 
tioch and see how differently it must be met. 

Compare the speech in the synagogue at Antioch 
with the short one in Lystra and note the different 
approach to the point which is central in both. 

To what tests were Paul's powers of leadership 
put in this experience ? 

Perhaps the highest test of Paul's zeal for the 
work that this journey brought him, came at the 
point when, having reached at Derbe the limits of 
the Koman province, he must choose for the return 
trip between the direct route eastward through the 
Cilician Gates, and the way of retracing his steps 
through the cities where persecution and threatened 
death had met him. That he preferred to go back 
by the way that he had come and face the dangers 
of the way, shows how dear the project had become 
to him and how much it meant to him to greet once 
more the friends that he had made upon this jour- 



NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK 65 

ney. And so it is that a wealth of devotion to his 
friends and to his cause speaks through the simple 
record of the return journey. ^^They returned to 
Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, confirming 
the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to con- 
tinue in the faith and that through many tribula- 
tions, we must enter into the kingdom of God. And 
when they had appointed elders in every church, 
and had prayed with fasting, they commended them 
to the Lord, on whom they had believed'' (Acts 
14:21-23). 

Study the closing verses of chapter 14, and note 
the welcome that Paul and Barnabas received on 
their return to Antioch. It is the record of the 
first Christian missionary meeting. This was no 
gathering of a few enthusiasts, nor had there been 
any need of a rally to interest the many. It was 
the whole church, gathered because it was genu- 
inely eager to hear the report on work for which 
they held themselves definitely responsible. 

The Council at Jerusalem 

Paul had made his first great gift to the church 
in his daring to take the initiative in opening the 
door of faith to the Gentiles, but a more aggressive 
step than this must yet be taken. Acts 15 relates 
the story of Paul's definite stand for liberty before 
the church in Jerusalem, and in the judgment of 
many scholars, we have Paul's own account of this 
same event in Galatians 2. The contention that 



66 PAUL THE CONQUEKOK 

Gentiles must become Jews before they could be 
Christians was being vigorously pressed, and it was 
a position that centuries of Jewish thought and 
practice had honored. But Paul, confident that 
any such policy of exclusiveness was foreign to the 
spirit of the gospel of Christ, had put freedom to 
the test in this great missionary experiment, and 
out of the conviction of his soul and the proof of 
his own experience, he pleaded for the liberty that 
meant the life of the church. The decision of the 
council, which granted the freedom for which Paul 
sought, with only such concessions as were 
^^ strongly advised in the interests of peace and 
unity, ' ' * was a victory that saved the church from 
a narrow, cramped existence, from a provincial 
limitation and sent it forth with a gospel worthy 
to go into all the world. Paul had put into terms 
of life and experience his message that ^^ there can 
be neither Jew nor Greek; there can be neither 
bond nor free, for all are one in Christ Jesus'' 
(Gal. 3:28). 

QUESTIONS 

1. Trace in its big outlines the growth of the 
church from the time of the first persecu- 
tions in Jerusalem to the council at which 
Paul defended the cause of the Gentiles. 
What causes were producing this growth ? 

^Eamsay: St, Paul the Traveller and the Boman Citisen, 
p. 172. 



NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK 67 

2. What reasons can you see for the shifting of the 

center of influence and progress from the 
church at Jerusalem to that at Antioch? 

3. What definite things were accomplished by the 

first missionary journey of Paul and Barna- 
bas? 

4. What necessitated Paul's stand for liberty at 

the Jerusalem conference? 

5. How does the spirit of exclusiveness in religion, 

which he was combating, assert itself to-day ? 
How should it be met ? 

6. What changes would be necessary in the Chris- 

tian church to-day to make it a thoroughly 
democratic institution ? 

SUGGESTED BEADING 

Ramsay: St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman 
Citizen. Ch. 3. 

Wood: The Life and Ministry of Paul the Apos- 
tle. Chs. 8 and 9. 

Mathews : Paul the Dauntless. Chs. 12 and 14. 



CHAPTER YIII 
IN JOURNEYINGS OFTEN 

Acts 15:36—19:41; I Thess. 2; I Cor. 2:1-5; 4: 11-12; 
II Cor. 11 : 23-31 

Paul's first missionary journey had pointed the 
way to a ^'church throughout all the world," and 
his cherished purpose had begun to emerge from 
the realm of vision and take its place in the world 
of reality. The urge of the great task was upon 
him, and now the call was even more insistent be- 
cause it came in terms of human friendship and 
human need. ^^And after some days, Paul said 
. . . ^Let us return now and visit the brethren in 
every city wherein we proclaimed the word of the 
Lord, and see how they fare' " (Acts 15:36). 

Paul's Journeys 

Back through the same Galatian country he went, 
encouraging, strengthening, cheering the Christian 
groups which had been established on the first jour- 
ney. And greater things still awaited him. Ee- 
sponding to a call that he knew to be divine, he 
set aside plans for work in Bithynia, and crossed 
over the JEgean Sea to bring his gospel to a new 
continent. From city to city, even to Athens, the 



IN JOUENEYINGS OFTEN 69 

center of learning, where he must pit his message 
against the philosophies of the whole Grecian world, 
thence to Corinth, the busiest commercial city of 
Greece, and across to Ephesus he journeyed before 
he turned his face eastward again to Jerusalem and 
Antioch. But even his second journey only made 
his yearning more eager and his hope more insistent. 
It meant a wider knowledge of human need, a 
clearer call for help, and again he fared forth to 
bring in answer to that need, the gospel that was 
love. This time the field that claimed the major 
part of his time was that intervening country be- 
tween the Phrygio-Galatian section and the Grecian 
peninsula. In Ephesus, the capital city of the 
province of Asia, he worked for more than two 
years, after visiting once again the churches estab- 
lished in Phrygia and Galatia. At the close of 
-these years in Ephesus, came a rapid tour of Mace- 
donia and Achaia, and then the return voyage to 
Jerusalem, where he greeted the elders of the 
church and ^ ' rehearsed one by one, the things which 
God had wrought among the Gentiles by his minis- 
try'' (Acts 21: 19). 

Conditions of Travel 

This, in the rough, was the field of Paul's mission- 
ary effort. The familiar map of the Mediterranean 
country, on which we trace the course of these three 
journeys, conveys but little to us of their reality. 
To understand what they actually involved is a 



70 PAUL THE CONQUEROR 

difficult task for us to-day. To approach it, we 
must put ourselves back into a time when the land 
which lay around that great sea comprised almost 
the whole circuit of civilization. These were world 
tours in times when travel, though frequent enough, 
was an adventure that involved weariness, suffer- 
ing and danger. Paul must trust himself to ships 
that had but imperfect mastery over contrary winds 
or angry seas; he must face the dangers of travel 
on foot over great mountain ranges, across hot, 
dusty plains, and through swampy country where 
the pestilence of fever threatened. Often, to be 
sure, he could count on the firm Roman highways 
that connected important centers of the empire, but 
again, as was true of the journey from Perga in 
Pamphylia up to the Pisidian highlands, he must 
traverse a wild mountain country, whose roads were 
sometimes mere rocky passes, and where the traveler 
was subject to attack from bandits and even from 
wild beasts. Paul says himself of his journeyings, 
* ' Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, 
thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have 
I been in the deep ; in journeyings often, in perils 
of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my 
countrymen, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils 
in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in 
the sea, in perils among false brethren; in labor 
and travail; in watchings often, in hunger and 
thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness'' 
(II Cor. 11:25-27). 



IN JOUENEYINGS OFTEN 71 

PauVs Method of Work 

Paul, the traveler, must be ready to meet every 
emergency of the road, and he must be ready also 
to handle many a problem during his sojourns 
in the towns and cities. To see how, in differing 
communities, Paul varied his method and place of 
work to suit the existing conditions, study the fol- 
lowing passages : 

Acts 13 : 14-16. 

Acts 14: 8 ff. 

Acts 16 : 13. 

Acts 17 : 17 ff. 

Acts 19 : 8-9. 

"What do you judge was Paul's preferred method 
of procedure in a new place ? 

"What points in his method, as evidenced in these 
passages, would you recommend to the modern mis- 
sionary worker ? 

The worker who journeyed from place to place, 
must adapt himself, not only to new environment, 
but also to new types of people. With this thought 
in mind, read Paul's speeches in Antioch (Acts 13 : 
16 ff.), Lystra (Acts 14: 15 ff.), Athens (Acts 17: 
22 ff.), Jerusalem (Acts 22), noting with care points 
at which a special appeal is made to the particular 
type of audience which each community would fur- 
nish. 

At what points does Paul reveal his greatest 
eagerness in speaking? 

What is his most important message? 



72 PAUL THE CONQUEEOE 

What differing types of personality can you men- 
tion among the individuals with whom Paul dealt 
on his journeys? 

How do you account for his broad appeal? 

Plans for His Journeys 

Paul, the traveler, must be willing to go or to 
stay, as the exigencies of the situation demanded. 
He must be ready to travel rapidly from place to 
place (see Acts 17), or to settle down for a long 
stay when the needs of the community so demanded 
(see Acts 19). For glimpses of the principles by 
which Paul guided his decisions in these matters, 
consult : 

Acts 16 : 6, 7, 9. 

Acts 18 : 21. 

Acts 18 : 9. 

Acts 13 : 2. 

Study in particular Acts 16 : 6-10, and note 
Paul's confident faith that God would lead him to 
the right place for his work. See also his readiness 
to adapt his plans as new light came. Note that the 
guidance came sometimes in the form of circum- 
stances which prevented the fulfillment of plans, 
sometimes in the form of a realization of needs to 
be met. Observe also that there were periods of 
doubt and uncertainty, and that, at best, he did not 
expect to see the way clear for a long time ahead. 
Estimating needs that he saw and his own power 
to meet them, examining circumstances and treat- 
ing them as evidence to be weighed and judged, 



IN JOUENEYINGS OFTEN 73 

pondering the matter overnight, and earnestly- 
praying, he arrived at his conclusion, and imme- 
diately set out to translate the conviction into terms 
of action. 

What steps that Paul took to determine the voice 
of conscience are open to us ? 

Can we expect as clear leading as he had? ^ 
What do you think Paul meant in Gal. 2 : 2 when 
he said, ^'I went up by revelation"? 

Persecution 

Paul, the traveler, must be ready to face opposi- 
tion, and even persecution. Study Paul's conduct 
in imprisonment and persecution in : 

Acts 13 : 44-50. 

Acts 14 : 19-20. 

Acts 16 : 19-34. 

Try to analyze his command over situations. Is 
there any hint in these passages of rejoicing in per- 
secution (Matt. 5: 11-12) ? Compare Paul the per- 
secuted missionary, with Paul the persecutor, 
breathing out threatenings and slaughter. 

Is the change greater in circumstances or in 
character ? 

What has produced the change in character ? 

Eead I Thess. 2 : 2. How do you account for the 
fact that being shamefully treated made him ' ' wax 
bold''? 

What considerations would urge to a contrary 
course, either giving up the journey entirely, or 
working in a less aggressive fashion ? 



74 PAUL THE CONQUEROE 

"What would be the determining factor in Paul's 
decision ? 

For a glimpse of the brighter side of Paul's ex- 
perience as he traveled, read Acts 17 : 10-14, and 
think how refreshing such a welcome and such an 
unprejudiced response to the teaching would be 
after repeated rebuffs, and rejection of his message. 
But note that even here, opposition must be faced, 
perhaps even harder to endure because of its un- 
fairness, incited as it was, by those whose prejudice 
and narrowness would not allow a free and honest 
estimate to be made of his gospel. 

Distress and suffering there were, discouragement 
and inward questioning, doubt and perplexity over 
the next step, but here was a traveler who could 
face with victorious courage every affliction that his 
travels brought him, — the perils of the way, the 
problems of missionary service in constantly chang- 
ing circumstances, the disappointment of apparent 
defeat, the distress of rejection, of active opposi- 
tion, and even of persecution; who, looking back 
on the whole experience, could say in a humble, yet 
holy exaltation, ^ ' I have learned in whatsoever state 
I am, therein to be content. I know how to be 
abased and I know also how to abound; in every- 
thing and in all things have I learned the secret 
both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound 
and to be in want. I can do all things in him that 
strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4: 11-13). 



IN JOUENEYINGS OFTEN 75 

The Recompense 

And he was not without his reward, a deeper one 
than could be found in any external circumstance. 
His recompense lay in the little groups of friends 
in city after city, who, through his fellowship and 
his sufferings, were coming to know the power of 
the gospel of Jesus Christ. ' ' For ye are our glory 
and our joy'' (I Thess. 2:20). ^'And for this 
cause, we also thank God without ceasing that when 
ye received from us the word of the message, ye 
accepted it" (I Thess. 2: 13). ''I thank my God 
upon all my remembrance of you" (Phil. 1:3). 
This, and his steadily increasing sense of fellowship 
with his Lord, made worth while all the labor and 
all the pain. He was a co-worker with his Lord in 
a business that was worth the cost. ^^That I may 
know him, and the power of his resurrection, and 
the fellowship of his sufferings" (Phil. 3 : 10), this 
was the goal, and this his highest reward. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What demands did Paul's travels make upon 

his endurance, his adaptability, his initia- 
tive? 

2. What was the measure of success that he him- 

self saw ? 

3. What is your estimate of his success ? 

4. What evidence have we that Paul could not 

depend upon a commanding presence in 
making a first impression? 



76 PAUL THE CONQUEROR 

5. What hints are there of physical limitation? 

6. What are the means that Paul used in winning 

men to Christ? 

7. Analyze and explain Paul's leadership and 

his command over situations. 

8. In how far may we expect as definite guidance 

from God as we find Paul experiencing? 

9. Characterize and explain his conduct in per- 

secution. 
10. In what forms does the modern Christian meet 
persecution ? 

SUGGESTED READING 

Stalker : The Life of St. Paul. Chs. 5 and 6. 
Wood : The Life and Ministry of Paul the Apos- 
tle. Chs. 11, 12, and 13. 

Edwards-Cutler: A Life at its Best. Ch. 11. 
Deissmann: St. Paul. Chs. 2 and 8. 



CHAPTER IX 
MORE THAN CONQUEROR 

Acts 20—28; Eom. 15: 22-32; II Cor. 8:1-4; 9: 1-4 

The call of the great empire was sounding always 
for Paul. His was a world vision, and to him a 
world vision meant a world task. In the hope that 
he cherished, in the purpose to which his life was 
dedicated, he saw this great Roman empire, new- 
born in the faith of Jesus Christ. From province 
to province he traveled, covering the circuit * ' from 
Jerusalem and round about even unto lUyricum" 
(Rom. 15 : 19), and now the dream of bringing his 
message to the city that was the center of the Ro- 
man world seemed possible of fulfillment. A Ro- 
man citizen, he yearned to preach his gospel in 
Rome. Read Acts 19 : 21, Rom. 15 : 22-32, and note 
how firm a hold this longing had taken upon him. 
But a more immediate duty claimed him first. 

The .Gentile Controversy 

All through the years of his ministry, the old 
controversy about the status of the Gentiles in the 
church had been pressing. The council at Jeru- 
salem (see Chapter VII) had attempted a settle- 
ment, but had achieved only a compromise. All the 
strength of tradition, of national pride, of preju- 



78 PAUL THE CONQUEROR 

diced conviction from years back stood against 
PauPs liberal view. Always he must be fighting 
the old position that Gentiles must conform to the 
Jewish law before they could become Christians, 
and trying to make clear the essential nature of 
the Christianity for which he stood, its splendid 
breadth and freedom. But the opposition was both 
spirited and persistent. So warm was the feeling, 
that delegates were sent out by the conservative 
party to the districts where Paul had worked, to 
urge the claims of the old, narrow position. 
Cleverly and often insidiously these agents worked, 
to discourage faith in the apostle and to destroy 
his work, and Paul was forced in many cases to see 
the people whom he loved turning from him, and 
the work that had been his life, undermined. But 
he could not let this opposition go unchallenged. 
Letters were dispatched to the churches where the 
hostile work had been done (see Gal. 1 and 2, 1 
Thess. 2) ; friends were sent to assure them of the 
honesty of his work; and when he could, he went 
himself to make it clear that self-interest was not 
his motive, and that narrowness and exclusiveness 
had no part in the Christian gospel. 

The Gift of the Jerusalem Church 

And with his genius for understanding human 
nature, he had grasped at a constructive enterprise 
for welding together the factions of the church, a 
plan which should also serve to carry out the decree 



MOKE THAN CONQUEROK 79 

of the Jerusalem council that Paul should take upon 
himself the responsibility for the poor of the mother 
church. A gift from the Gentile churches of the 
four provinces, Galatia, Asia, Macedonia and 
Achaia, for the poor of the Jerusalem church, had 
been arranged as evidence of the friendly interest 
of the Gentile communities and as a testimony to 
the essential unity of the church in all the world. 
The response from the Gentile churches to this plan 
of Paul's was most cheering (see II Cor. 8 : 1-4, 9 : 
1-4), and the importance of the enterprise made 
Paul feel it necessary for him to accompany the 
delegates of the churches to Jerusalem, for the pres- 
entation of the gift. Long aoad careful planning 
had gone into this project, and important results 
were expected from it, and for its sake, the long- 
anticipated visit to Eome must be deferred. 

PauVs Journey to Jerusalem 

Read Acts 20 : 1 — 21 : 16 for the story of the jour- 
ney to Jerusalem. Note the growing realization on 
Paul's part, as the journey progressed, that the 
visit to Jerusalem meant danger and possible death. 
Follow his increasing resolution as the danger be- 
came more and more evident, and see its strength 
in his words in Acts 21 : 13. As you trace the jour- 
ney, watch for evidences of the affection of his 
converts for Paul, and of their interest in his wel- 
fare. 

What does the speech at Miletus (Acts 20 : 18 ff.) 



80 PAUL THE CONQUEEOR 

reveal of the method and spirit of Paul's work 
among the Gentiles? 

What does it reveal of his own personal life ? 

Paul's resolution had been tried on the journey 
to Jerusalem, but it was put to the test in the city 
itself. Eead the story of his experience in Jeru- 
salem and Caesarea in Acts 21 : 15 — 26 : 32, and try 
to make real the meaning to him of the following 
elements in it : 

(a) The reception accorded him by the breth- 
ren. 

(b) The distrust of the Jews. 

(c) His defense and arrest. 

(d) His plea before the council. 

(e) His rescue from the Jews who plotted 
against him. 

(f ) His imprisonment in Caesarea. 

Contrast Paul's dignity and fearlessness in each 
instance with the bearing of those who attacked 
him. 

Try to picture to yourself what the vacillation 
on the part of his captors would mean to a man 
with hopes and plans like Paul's, and what inaction 
in a prison would mean to a man of his tempera- 
ment. 

Study the narrative closely to see exactly what 
caiised Paul's arrest, and what brought about the 
prolonged imprisonment. 

What estimate do you make of Felix and of 
Festus ? 



MOKE THAN CONQUEROE 81 

Why did Paul refuse the offer of Festus for a 
new trial? 

What is the reason for the additional hearing in 
the presence of Agrippa? 

What are the most significant features of Paul's 
address before Agrippa ? 

His Appeal to Ccesar 

Paul's appeal to Caesar was one that no Roman 
official could deny. The right to such a trial was 
his by reason of his Roman citizenship, and to 
Caesar he must be sent as soon as opportunity of- 
fered. The dream of a visit to Rome was to be 
realized, but in how different a fashion from the 
way that he had pictured it — ^not as a herald of 
good tidings, a bringer of great gifts, but as a hum- 
ble prisoner in chains, an old man on whom suffer- 
ing and toil and disappointment had left their 
mark. And yet, prisoner that he was, the man who 
had learned the secret of being ^^ sorrowful yet al- 
ways rejoicing'' (II Cor. 6: 10), must still be com- 
ing in the spirit of that splendid declaration that 
he had previously made to the church in Rome, 
^^For as much as in me is, I am ready to preach 
the gospel to you also that are in Rome. For I 
am not ashamed of the gospel. ' ' Like his Lord, he 
had '^stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem" 
when the danger of death awaited him, and now 
in that same spirit, he was ready, in coming to Rome 
*^not to be bound only, but to die" (Acts 21: 13). 



82 PAUL THE CONQUEEOE 

The Voyage and Shipwreck 

The story of the voyage to Rome is one of the 
most dramatic and vivid narratives that we have 
in the whole story of Paul 's life. Read Acts 27 : 
1 — 28 : 16, and notice the graphic details that make 
the experience so real to the reader. In each crisis 
of the journey, note Paul's command of the situa- 
tion and his power to bring cheer, and to inspire 
courage in his fellow passengers. 

What points reveal the dangers of navigation in 
those days? 

Gather all the evidence you can from this pas- 
sage as to Paul's attitude toward physical danger. 

What is the contribution of this story to our esti- 
mate of Paul as a worker with men ? 

From the danger and almost despair of ship- 
wreck, and the delays and anxieties of the remain- 
der of the voyage, the arrival on the mainland of 
Italy must have been indeed a welcome change. 
The cheer and comfort that the greeting from 
brethren in Puteoli afforded after these months of 
danger and stress we may well imagine, and the 
grateful safety of a quiet week in their midst. The 
entrance into the city of his imprisonment itself 
was again to Paul an event that partook of the na- 
ture of a triumph. For here in this western world 
where he himself had never come before, he was 
met and welcomed by those who, because of his 
vision and his labor, had come to share ' ' in the un- 
searchable riches of Christ" (Eph. 3:8). No won- 



MOEE THAN CONQUEEOR 83 

der that ''he thanked God, and took courage'' (Acts 
28 : 15) when he saw the little group of the breth- 
ren, whose welcome was too eager to await his ar- 
rival in the city, and who came, braving the disap- 
proval of the authorities, to greet him out on the 
Appian Way. 

* * What were they then, the sights of our discerning 
Sorrows we suffer, and the deeds we do? 

' * Lo, every one of them was sunk and swallowed, 
Morsels and motes in the eternal sea; 
Far was the call, and farther as I followed. 
Grew there a silence round the Lord and me. ' '* 

Rome 

Into the city that was called eternal, but whose 
destruction lay not far hence, came this prisoner 
in chains, whose gospel was one day not only to 
conquer the great empire, but to go into the utter- 
most parts of all the earth. And it was with this 
business of sending forward the gospel of Jesus 
Christ, that he was concerned, during the years of 
his imprisonment in Rome. We cannot know fully 
of his life there, but the brief record in Acts (see 
chapter 28 : 16-30) tells us that his work continued, 
even though he was guarded always by a soldier, 
and from his letters we know that he was making 
use of every opportunity, so that his bonds '^ became 
manifest in Christ throughout the whole praetorian 

* Myers : Saint Paul. 



84 PAUL THE CONQUEROR 

guard; and to all the rest'' (Phil. 1: 13) ; and he 
became in truth ^'an ambassador in chains/' ^'to 
make known with boldness the mystery of the gos- 
pel" (Eph. 6:20). In the house of his somewhat 
lenient captivity, friends could come to him freely 
and he could write to those at a distance. The let- 
ters that went forth from his imprisonment, speak- 
ing an intimate tenderness and affection for the 
friends from whom he was separated, have become 
the heritage of the church in all the centuries fol- 
lowing, and the precious possession of Christians 
everywhere. Whether, as some have felt, he was 
tried and released, and later brought back to trial, 
or whether his condemnation came at the close of 
the two years which are recorded in Acts, we may 
feel confident that he was busy always making 
known to men ''the love of Christ which passeth 
knowledge" (Eph. 3:19). 

His Death 

Of the manner of his death we cannot know. 
Tradition tells us that he died a martyr in Rome, 
but the details of circumstance are only to be con- 
jectured. Of the spirit of that death, however, 
there can be no question. We know that he went 
''down to the gates of death, loyal and loving." 
The confident faith, the exultant hope, the self -for- 
getful love that had determined his living must also 
determine his dying. As through the long years 
of his labor and his sufferings, so at the end would 



MOEE THAN CONQUEROR 85 

he prove himself ''more than conquerors, through 
him that loved us'' (Rom. 8: 37). 

' ^ Yea, thro ' life, death, thro ' sorrow and thro ^ sinning 
He shall suffice me, for he hath sufficed: 
Christ is the end, for Christ was the beginning, 
Christ the beginning, for the end is Christ.^'* 

QUESTIONS 

1. In what sense did Paul's arrest and his im- 

prisonment both in Judea and in Rome fur- 
ther his work as a missionary ? 

2. In what sense were these events an interrup- 

tion of his work ? 

3. "What temptations to disloyalty lay in his ex- 

perience under arrest? 

4. Summarize the arguments which seemed to 

Paul most cogent for his defense in his 
various trials. 

5. "What was the motive of his self-defense? 

6. What evidences do you find in Paul's experi- 

ence as a prisoner of his respect for au- 
thority? of his quick- wittedness ? of his 
tact? 

7. What qualities in Paul's character are re- 

vealed in the story of the voyage and the 
shipwreck ? 

8. In what sense may he be called a ^'conqueror'' 

in his imprisonment in Rome ? 
* Myers : Saint Paul. 



86 PAUL THE CONQUEKOR 

9. What evidence have we that he did actually 
rise superior to personal considerations in 
such humiliating circumstances as those 
which he must face after his arrest in Jeru- 
salem ? 
10. What grounds had he for feeling that his work 
had failed ? What gave him the confidence 
of triumph ? 

SUGGESTED READING 

Stalker : Life of St. Paul. Chs. 9 and 10. 

Ramsay : St. Paul the Traveller and Roman Citi- 
zen. Ch. 13. 

Wood : The Life and Ministry of Paul the Apos- 
tle. Chs. 18 and 19. 

Mathews : Paul the Dauntless. Chs. 32 and 36. 

Robertson : Epochs in the Life of St. Paul. Ch. 
10. 



CHAPTER X 
THE GREATEST OF THESE 

Acts 20: 17—21: 6; Philemon; Eom. 16; Phil. 4 

A persecutor, a murderer, breathing out threaten- 
ings and slaughter, Paul first appeared among the 
followers of Jesus. A man of compassionate ten- 
derness, an exemplar of Christian friendship, he 
went to his death, a martyr for the sake of the gos- 
pel, the heart of whose message was love. 

Paul, the Friend 

But the fiery vigor of the young assailant of 
Christianity was not lost in the gentleness and 
sympathy of the mature, mellowed Christian. Paul 
remained, to the end, a man of forceful energy, of 
sturdy determination, of uncompromising adher- 
ence to principle; and his genius for friendship, 
that was the balance for the sterner side of his 
nature, was due to no softening of the fiber of his 
character. It was rather that his complete dedica- 
tion of all that was strong and resolute in him to a 
purpose that was love, had made possible the ex- 
pression of all his strength in loving relations with 
men. 

Read I Cor. 9 : 19-23, and see Paul 's own state- 
ment of the breadth of his ideal. Adaptability to 



88 PAUL THE CONQUEEOE 

every type of humanity — this was his aim, adapta- 
bility, as the first step into friendship that should 
express in human living his Christian purpose and 
ideal. 

What are the dangers to the ordinary man in 
such an ideal ? 

Wherein lay Paul ^s safeguard from this danger ? 

Happily we can know PauPs genius for friend- 
ship, not only in terms of his ideal, but also in the 
actual relationships of his life. The picture that 
the record gives us is not that of a man whose deal- 
ings with men were coldly studied or consciously 
striving to work out an ideal. It is the picture of 
an affectionate life, winning friends easily, natu- 
rally, by the irresistible warmth of an intense, lov- 
ing temperament. The record of his missionary 
labors is a story of powerful friendships, and the 
letters that he wrote to the churches where he 
worked, are crowded with friendly messages to 
those whom he loved. A worker, busy with a world 
task, he could yet pause ^^to smile with kind eyes, 
and be a man with men.'' 

Barnabas 

Of those who came closest to Paul in the com- 
radeship of service, we know first of Barnabas, the 
apostle who trusted him, and stood sponsor for him 
when he was most in need of friends (Acts 9: 26- 
27), and who made for him his first opportunity for 
active service in the Christian community (Acts 
11 : 25) . Study the following passages for glimpses 



THE GREATEST OF THESE 89 

of the character of this generous-hearted friend: 
Acts 4 : 36, 9 : 27, 11 : 23, 11 : 29-30. We know Bar- 
nabas also, as a companion in service, through the 
story of the first missionary journey (Acts 13 and 
14), and beneath the record of their cooperation 
in work, can be traced a growing recognition on the 
part of Barnabas, that in this younger man whom 
he had befriended was a greater than himself, one 
capable of assuming command, and to whom it was 
right that he should defer. A disagreement over 
plans for the second journey (Acts 15:37-38) re- 
sulted in a separation that must have meant sorrow 
for both friends, but we know that the memory 
of this friendship remained with Paul, and his 
thought turned with respect and admiration to 
Barnabas when he was justifying to the Corinthian 
church his own apostleship (I Cor. 9:6). 

Timothy 

Timothy, Paul 's ^ ^ own son in the faith, ' ' was one 
of his closest friends. Probably converted by Paul 
on his first visit to Lystra, Timothy was ready for 
service with him by the time he came again. To see 
the qualities that Paul found in this earnest young 
convert, read II Tim. 1:5, 3 : 15 and Acts 16 : 1-3 ; 
and then in Phil. 2 : 19-22, see how completely these 
gifts were dedicated to the work of the kingdom. 
Read Acts 17 : 14, 19 : 22, and 20 : 4-6, I Thess. 3 : 
1-8, to see the scope of his work and in I Cor. 
16 : 10-11, I Thess. 3 : 1, observe the deep tender- 
ness and fatherly affection, with which Paul refers 



90 PAUL THE CONQUEEOR 

to Timothy. That he shared PauFs imprisonment, 
we know through his joint authorship in three of 
the letters that came from the captivity (Phil. 1 : 1, 
Col. 1:1, Philemon 1). 

Titus 

Titus, who was Paul 's trusted co-worker, and who 
is mentioned in his letters with genuine affection 
and commendation, is not named in the story as 
given in Acts. But from the letter to the churches 
in Galatia, we learn that he went to Jerusalem with 
Paul (Gal. 2:1) when the council over the Gentile 
problem was held. From II Corinthians, we know 
of his work with Paul on the missionary journeys 
(II Cor. 2:12-13, 7 : 6, 8 : 23), and of his serving 
more than once as a delegate to Corinth on busi- 
ness that demanded both tact and skill (II Cor. 
12 : 18, 8 : 6, 8 : 16-24) . Paul's tender affection for 
this young convert of his, and pride in his work, 
shines out in almost every mention of him. Paul 
calls him ^^my partner and fellow- worker" (II Cor. 
8: 23), and again he says, '^But thanks be to God, 
who putteth the same earnest care for you into the 
heart of Titus" (II Cor. 8 : 16), and '* Nevertheless, 
he that comforteth the lowly, even God, comforted 
us by the coming of Titus" (II Cor. 7:6). 

Priscilla and Aquila 

As he journeyed from city to city, Paul was al- 
ways enlisting new friends in work for his great 
cause. Priscilla and Aquila, his ^ ^ fellow- workers 



THE GEEATEST OF THESE 91 

in Christ Jesus, ' ' who later revealed their devotion 
to him in their willingness to lay down their lives 
for his sake (Rom. 16:4), were doubtless drawn 
to him first by the fact of their common trade. 
Study Acts 18 : 1-3 and 18 : 18-28, and gather what 
you can of their history and the value of their 
work in the community. 

What were the rewards and the responsibilities 
that fell to their lot by reason of their hospitality 
to Paul? 

Read I Cor. 2 : 3 and try to imagine the cheer and 
help that would be afforded Paul by the cordiality 
of these fellow- workers. See also II Cor. 11 : 9 for 
evidences of Paul's special need at this time. Ob- 
serve in I Cor. 16 : 19 the leadership of Priscilla and 
Aquila in the church. 

Paul counted among his friends both men of in- 
fluence and the humblest of the world's workers. 
To get an impression of this striking breadth of 
friendship, read the little book of Philemon, a per- 
sonal letter written from captivity to a wealthy 
friend in Colossae, pleading for another friend, a 
runaway slave. Observe the tact of the writer in 
dealing with so delicate a matter as the reinstating 
of a slave who had probably robbed his master of 
money, as well as of his own service. 

What indications are there of Paul's love for 
Philemon and for Onesimus ? 

What does the letter reveal of Paul's conception 
of friendship? 



92 PAUL THE CONQUEROE 

State in your own words the service Paul hoped 
to render to Onesimus. To Philemon. 

Other Friends 

These are but a few of the friends whom the apos- 
tle gathered about him, as he journeyed. Others, 
the story of whose relationship with him we know 
more or less in detail, are Silas, the companion of 
his travels and his sufferings (Acts 16 — 18) ; Luke, 
whom he called the beloved physician (Col. 4: 14) ; 
Mark, who became in the years of his imprisonment 
^^a comfort to him" (Col. 4: 11) ; Peter, who con- 
ferred with him at the outset of his ministry and 
gave him ''the right hand of fellowship'' (Gal. 
2:9), and Lydia, the business woman of Philippi, 
and the staunch supporter of the new church (Acts 
16 : 13-15) . And many there are, whose names have 
grown familiar through the friendly mention of 
them in Paul's letters, but of whose experience we 
know but little: Tychicus, ''the beloved brother 
and faithful minister in the Lord" (Eph. 6:21, 
Col. 4:7, Acts 20:4); Aristarchus, his "fellow- 
prisoner" (Col. 4 : 10, Acts 19 : 29, 27 : 2) ; Archip- 
pus, his "feUow-soldier" (Philem. 2, Col. 4:17); 
Epaphras, ' ' the beloved fellow-servant and faithful 
minister" (Col. 1 : 7, 4: 12 and Philem. 23) ;Epaph- 
roditus, his "brother and fellow- worker " (Phil. 
2:25-30, 4:18); Stephanas, who with his house- 
hold was ministering unto the saints (I Cor. 16 : 15, 
1: 16), and hosts of others, whose names we know 
only through greetings sent them in the letters 



THE GKEATEST OF THESE 93 

(Eom. 16) or who appear unnamed, a group of 
those who loved him, and came with tender solici- 
tude for his welfare, to bid him Godspeed upon his 
journey (Acts 20:36-38). 

Paul's Gift of Friendship 

Glimpses like these of a man's power with men 
send our thoughts forward to find the secret of his 
influence. A single, brief narrative of a busy, 
hurried life, a few letters dispatched either from 
imprisonment or from the midst of crowding duties, 
have revealed Paul's extraordinary ability to live 
in the lives of others. If we could know more of 
the intimate details of his daily living, how much 
more might be revealed of this capacity for friend- 
ship ! But even as it is, there stands forth from this 
all too meager record, the figure of a man to whom 
friendship was of such supreme importance, that 
we cannot know the man apart from his friends. 
It is the picture of a man of deep and genuine af- 
fection, who had brought his friendship to the high- 
est level of consecration. And the secret lies deeper 
than in a winsome personality, or a ready approach 
to the surface of men's lives. Paul was winning 
men, not to himself, but to a cause so great and so 
worth while, that it could call forth every best 
effort ; to a personality at the center of that cause, 
so wonderful that it could worthily claim the su- 
preme allegiance of every man. He was calling 
men not merely to a manner of life but to coopera- 
tion in a world-wide project ; to friendship with his 



94 PAUL THE CONQUEKOE 

greatest Friend. It was the appeal of a tremendous 
enterprise ; but it was more than that ; it was a call 
to share in a divine and life-giving relationship. 
Sympathy with the hopes and failings of human 
nature (Rom. 7:19), understanding of the diffi- 
culties that his friends were meeting (Eph. 2: 1-6, 
Gal. 4:19, 6: Iff.), gentleness and tenderness in 
suffering (II Thess. 1:4), and genuine, whole- 
souled affection (II Cor. 6:13, I Thess. 2:7), all 
these had their parts in Paul's life of friendship, 
but the mainspring of his power with men was its 
motive, the utter loss of self in the supreme purpose 
to make the love of Jesus Christ real to men. 

'^Howbeit what things were gain to me, these have I 
counted loss for Christ. Yea, verily and I count all things 
to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ 
Jesus my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things 
and do count them but refuse, that I may be found in him ' ' 
(Phil. 3: 7-9). 

* ' To the end, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 
may be strong to apprehend with all the saints, what is the 
breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the 
love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be 
filled unto the fullness of God'' (Eph. 3: 17-19). 

QUESTIONS 

1. What differences in temperament, ability and 

circumstances do you find in those whom we 
know as Paul's closest friends? 

2. How do you explain the breadth of his appeal ? 

3. From his relations with his friends, what would 

you estimate Paul's friendship ideals to be? 



THE GREATEST OF THESE 95 

4. How many of these ideals do you find stated in 

PanPs hymn of love, I Cor. 13? What fur- 
ther points are added ? 

5. Find in the epistles as many examples as you 

can showing how naturally Paul's prayer in- 
eluded his friends ; how inevitably his friend- 
ships sent him to prayer. 

6. What does this indicate concerning the depth 

of his friendships and of the reality of 
prayer to him? 

7. What qualities should a friendship hold to be 

characterized as thoroughly Christian ? 

8. What are the most common obstacles to com- 

pletely Christianized friendships ? 

9. What dangers exist in limiting the range of 

our friendships? 

SUGGESTED EEADING 

McGiffert: A History of Christianity in the 
Apostolic Age. pp. 423-439. 

Speer : The Man Paul. pp. 171-192. 

King: The Laws of Friendship Human and Di- 
vine. 

Conde : The Business of Being a Friend. 



CHAPTER XI 

AN AMBASSADOE FOR CHRIST 

I Thessalonians ; Philippians; Galatians 

'Tor I long to see you, that I may impart to you some 
spiritual gift, to the end that ye may be established^' 
(Rom. 1:8). 

This yearning to make real to others what was 
deepest in his own life, was the controlling motive 
of Paul 's missionary work. It sent him forth eager 
and resolute, carrying his message from city to city; 
it led him to enlist other workers, through whom 
he could multiply his efforts ; and it prompted the 
letters that carried his counsel, his comfort, and 
his encouragement to his children in the faith. 
Through these letters, there has come down to us 
to-day a source of knowledge of the inner life of the 
apostle and of the gospel that he taught, that is 
more intimate and more accurate than any other 
record of his life could be. We look upon them now 
most frequently as a means of access to his person- 
ality and his faith, but surely their author never 
thought of them as an autobiographical record nor 
as a formal exposition of his belief. He did not 
attempt to present through them a complete phi- 
losophy, nor did he struggle for consistency. 



AN AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST 97 

His letters went out as the eager expression of a 
man's love for his friends; of his hopes for their 
spiritual growth; of his yearning to make them 
secure from dangers ; and of his faith that the life 
in Christ meant freedom and joy for them. These 
were not essays ; they were personal messages, that 
sprang from the heart of a busy life, and were the 
outreach of a man 's affection and aspiration. They 
were sent to answer questions, and to meet needs 
that were immediate and pressing ; but because they 
dealt with immediate problems in the light of eter- 
nal truth, they have brought to the Christian world 
an abiding source of spiritual strength and help. 

The Letters to the Thessalonians 

Of the ten letters which are commonly regarded 
as Paul's, two, and perhaps three, were written dur- 
ing the long stay in Corinth which constituted the 
larger part of the second missionary tour (I and 
II Thessalonians, and Galatians?) ; three were dur- 
ing the residence in Ephesus on the third journey 
(I and II Corinthians and Romans) ; and four were 
the expression of his constant thought for his 
friends during his imprisonment in Rome (Ephe- 
sians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon). The 
two letters to the church at Thessalonica were writ- 
ten within a few months of each other, probably 
in the year 50 A. D. The first was sent in response 
to questions, brought to him by Timothy from the 
Thessalonians. They were troubled and perplexed 
about those of their number who had died, wonder- 



98 PAUL THE CONQUEROR 

ing how they could share in the promised return of 
the Lord. Paul's letter was one of exhortation to 
right living, and of reassurance to their faith in the 
resurrection of those who had died. This reassur- 
ance that the letter carried had visible effect, and 
some at least of the Thessalonian Christians took 
his words about the speedy coming of the Lord so 
literally, that they decided to suspend all labor and 
merely wait for the approaching end of all things. 
And so a second letter was sent back to correct the 
misapprehension, and to urge the Thessalonians to 
be constant and steadfast in their work, that they 
might prove themselves, by the faithful perform- 
ance of their daily tasks, worthy to share in the 
blessings of the Lord's coming. 

Oalatians 

About the date of the letter to the Galatians, and 
the place from which it was written, scholars are 
not in agreement, but it may have come from Cor- 
inth not long after the letters to the Thessalonians 
had been sent out. It is certain at least, that dis- 
heartening news had reached Paul from these 
churches in Galatia, for the conservative Jewish 
party which was always opposing his liberal gospel 
to the Gentiles, had taken advantage of his absence, 
to call in question both his gospel and his authority 
as an apostle. Paul's letter was a vigorous and 
spirited defense of his gospel of freedom, and of his 
own authority, as an ambassador of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. It has been called ''the Christian charter 



AN AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST 99 

of freedom. ^ ' * Its outstanding message was a 
vindication of Christian liberty : ^ * for freedom did 
Christ set us free'' (Gal. 5:1). 

Paul's Correspondence with Corinth 

During his long visit in Ephesus on the third 
journey, Paul was in close communication with the 
church at Corinth. The two letters to this church 
which have been preserved, mention another letter 
now lost (I Cor. 5:9), a visit which the apostle 
himself paid to Corinth (II Cor. 12:14), a visit 
from Timothy, who had been sent as Paul's repre- 
sentative (I Cor. 4: 17), and reports that had come 
to the apostle through friends who had visited him 
in Ephesus (I Cor. 1:11). The two letters then, 
which we have, we are to think of as parts of an 
almost constant communication which was main- 
tained between the apostle and this group of his 
converts. By the reports that had come to Paul 
from Corinth, he had learned of factions in the 
church, of a case of unlawful marriage, and of 
lawsuits among the brethren; and these were the 
subject of the first part of the first letter. Paul 
pleaded for unity in the faith and strict adherence 
to the highest principles of Christian morality and 
brotherly forbearance. The second portion of the 
letter is devoted to questions which the church at 
Corinth had asked him in their letter — questions 
dealing with marriage, with the conduct of their 

* B. W. Robinson : Life of Paul, p. 147. 



100 PAUL THE CONQUEEOR 

services, with their attitude toward food that others 
had offered to idols, questions of everyday right and 
wrong that had puzzled the new converts, and that 
they longed to submit to his more experienced judg- 
ment. With the care of a father for his children, 
Paul dealt with each question in turn and even 
while great religious issues and world-sweeping 
plans were claiming his attention, he did not treat 
scornfully these minor details of everyday experi- 
ence. And from the consideration of such details 
of behavior, there sprang his great hymn that exalts 
love as the essential motive power for the Christian 
conduct of life : 

' ' Love suffereth long and is kind, 

Love envieth not, love vaunteth not itself, 

Is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, 

Seeketh not its own, is not provoked, 

Taketh not account of evil, 

Rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the 

truth, 
Beareth all things, believeth all things, 
Hopeth all things, endureth all things. 
Love never faileth. '^ 

The part of Paul's correspondence that we know 
as II Corinthians is held by some to be two letters 
rather than one, one of which was written from 
Ephesus, and one later from Macedonia, perhaps 
Philippi. Whether it was originally one letter, or 
a group of letters, later collected by Paul's fol- 
lowers and preserved together, we do not feel 
certain ; but the letter as it stands, reveals again 



AN AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST 101 

.PauFs genuine concern for the church at Corinth. 
It is a warm defense of his own apostleship against 
a faction that had opposed him there, and an appeal 
for steadfastness on the part of the church. The 
depth of PauPs yearning over his converts speaks 
in the close linking of his anxiety and care for 
them with his sufferings in shipwreck, stoning, 
hunger, and scourging, all of which he had endured 
for the gospePs sake. As he narrated the story of 
these trials, he added, ''Beside those things that 
are without, there is that which presseth upon me 
daily, anxiety for all the churches" (II Cor. 
11:28). 

The Letter to Borne 

Paul's great desire to go to Rome had, at this 
time, to yield to the necessity of the journey to 
Jerusalem, and the letter that he sent in his stead 
to the converts, is full of expressions of his hope 
to be with them later. His anxiety lest the Roman 
church should be led away to a narrow and legal 
form of Christianity, urged him to send in advance 
of his visit this statement of his gospel of freedom 
in Jesus Christ. By reason of this purpose which 
it was to meet, the letter to the Romans gives a 
somewhat more formal defining than the other let- 
ters give of the essential positions of his gospel — 
of the righteousness of God; of the meaning of 
faith ; and of the way of salvation. Won out of his 
own experience, first under the Jewish law, and 



102 PAUL THE CONQUEEOK 

then through his faith in Jesus Christ, his gospel 
rings with intense conviction and strong feeling. 

The Captivity Letters 

The four letters, Philippians, Colossians, Ephe- 
sians and Philemon, which he wrote from his im- 
prisonment in Rome, speak of his steady care and 
thought for the brethren during his separation from 
them. The letter to the Philippians is an outpour- 
ing of his love for the converts at Philippi, of his 
satisfaction in their spiritual growth, and of his 
gratitude for their friendship, with an exhortation 
to joy and to optimistic faith on their part. Ephe- 
sians and Colossians are companion letters, urging 
unity and steadfastness in the faith, and stout re- 
sistence to heresy or any perversion of the gospel. 
The letter to Philemon is unique, in that it is a 
personal note addressed to an individual. This 
glowing appeal to one Christian friend on behalf 
of another, at the opposite end of the social scale, 
carried Paul's urgent hope that each one, in the 
delicate situation before him, should rise to the 
highest level of Christian generosity and sympa- 
thetic understanding. Paul identified himself so 
closely with this problem of the reinstating of the 
fugitive slave, that he wrote to Philemon, ^ ' If then 
thou countest me a partner, receive him as myself 
(Philemon 1:17). 

These ten letters which are preserved to us to- 
day form doubtless only a small part of Paul's 
whole correspondence. Whether or not the letters 



AN AMBASSADOE FOR CHRIST 103 

to Timothy and Titus, which we call the Pastoral 
epistles, were written in full or in part by Paul 
himself, scholarship has not fully determined; but 
in either case, they undoubtedly reflect his spirit of 
friendly cooperation in dealing with those who 
worked under him, and his triumphant courage as 
he faced the end of his work. What other letters 
there were, now lost, we cannot know, but in these 
that have been preserved, there is given to us a 
picture of a life that was steadily reaching out to 
other lives, spending and being spent for the sake 
of a faith that was supremely dear. 

PauVs Gospel 

As we thus trace briefly the occasion and pur- 
pose of the letters, we see that they were sent to 
give counsel or to answer questions, to encourage 
or to warn, to reprove or to commend, to caution 
or to stimulate, as given situations demanded. They 
went out to accomplish definite purposes in times 
and in conditions far different from ours; but be- 
cause they carried the religious convictions of a 
great and brilliant mind, together with the intense 
feeling of a generous Christian spirit, they have 
carried a gospel of abiding worth to all the Chris- 
tian world. Although Paul's Christianity was not 
embodied in a formal statement in any one of his 
letters, yet the convictions that were vitally signifi- 
cant to him sprang again and again into words, 
in his handling of the problems of his converts, 
and these salient points in his belief we can gather 



104 PAUL THE CONQUEEOE 

together from their setting, and can examine as in- 
dicative of the points that were essential to him in 
his working faith. 

Study the following passages and try to sum- 
marize briefly Paul 's views about : 

The meaning of faith. Rom. 5. Gal. 5 : 5-6. 

The way of salvation. Rom. 6 — 8. 

The indwelling Christ. Rom. 8 : 11. Gal. 2 : 20- 
21. 

The righteousness of God. Rom. 1 — 3. 

The results of the life of faith. I Cor. 13. Phil. 
1 : 10. Gal. 5 : 22. Col. 1 : 9-14. 

Christian liberty. Gal. 5. 

The Christian task of happiness. Philippians. 

The hope of eternal life. II Cor. 4 : 16—5 : 10. 
I Cor. 15. Col. 3 : 1-4. 

The world-wide scope of the Christian gospel. 
Col. 3 : 10-11. 

How many of these points are distinctively char- 
acteristic of Paul? 

How many are stressed in modern Christianity? 

The Gospel and the Man 

In one of the letters to the church at Corinth 
Paul wrote, ^^Out of much affliction, and anguish 
of heart, I wrote unto you with many tears. ' ' From 
prison he wrote to the church at Philippi, ' ' Christ 
is proclaimed; and therein I rejoice, yea, and will 
rejoice." To the church at Colossae he wrote, ''For 
I would have you know how greatly I strive for 



AN AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST 105 

you. ' ' Again from his prison, he wrote, * * I there- 
fore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk 
worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called. ' ' 
Everywhere as he wrote, Paul gave himself. Be- 
hind the writing and shining through its eager ut- 
terances, was the life, vivid, intense, forceful. The 
gift that these letters made to the Gentile world 
was not merely an interpretation of the Christian 
faith, but an intimate, living fellowship with a man 
who cared supremely for that faith. The gift that 
they make to the Christian world to-day is a gospel 
that bears upon it the impress of a vigorous and tri- 
umphant life. 

' * Oh, could I tell ye surely would believe it ! 
Oh, could I only say what I have seen ! 
How should I tell or how can ye receive it. 
How, till he bringeth you where I have been? 

' ' Therefore, O Lord, I will not fail nor falter. 
Nay but I ask it, nay but I desire, 
Lay on my lips thine embers of the altar. 
Seal with the sting and furnish with the fire; 

^ ' Give me a voice, a cry and a complaining, — 
Oh, let my sound be stormy in their ears ! 
Throat that would shout but cannot stay for straining. 
Eyes that would weep but cannot wait for tears. 

' ' Quick in a moment, infinite for ever. 
Send an arousal better than I pray. 
Give me a grace upon the faint endeavor, 
Souls for my hire and Pentecost to-day!''* 

* Myers : Saint Paul, 



106 PAUL THE CONQUEEOR 

QUESTIONS 

1. "What points in Paul's Christianity need spe- 

cial emphasis to-day? 

2. What points in his gospel seem to yon out of 

date? 

3. What do you mean by salvation? 

4. Why is a conception of God 's righteousness 

necessary to a full faith in his love? 

5. Distinguish between Christian liberty and 

lawlessness. 

6. Trace to its fullest implications in modern 

society Paul 's doctrine of Christian liberty. 

7. Discuss Paul's position that the life of faith 

in Christ yields ethical results. 

8. Support the position that the belief in immor- 

tality is essential to the Christian faith. 

9. What arguments are advanced against the 

world-inclusive task of Christianity ? How 
do you meet them ? 
10. Was Paul's interpretation of international 
Christianity in advance of our Christian 
internationalism ? 

SUGGESTED READING 

Gardner: The Religious Experience of St. Paul. 
Morgan : The Religion and Theology of Paul. 
McGiffert : A History of Christianity in the Apos- 
tolic Age. Ch. 3. 

Stalker : The Life of St. Paul. Ch. 7. 



AN AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST 107 

Hodges: How to Know the Bible. Chs. 17, 18 
and 19. 

Phelps : Reading the Bible. Essay 2, St. Paul 
as a Letter- writer. 



CHAPTER XII 
THE FULLNESS OP CHRIST 

Nineteen centuries have passed since Paul the 
Apostle fought his good fight and finished his 
course ; and still men look back to him as the great- 
est leader, after Jesus, that the Christian faith has 
ever had. In all these years, men have come in- 
creasingly to recognize the strength of his leader- 
ship and the worth of his gift to Christianity. His 
ideals still direct the progress of the Christian 
faith; his activity still inspires new effort in the 
Christian cause ; his words are still the medium for 
the expression of Christian thought and worship. 
Paul of Tarsus is to-day an ambassador of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

Paul's service to his own time we have seen, as 
we have traced the story of his activity as a mis- 
sionary to the Gentile world. Christianity as he 
found it, was a sect in Palestine. Christianity as 
he left it, had begun to be a world-religion. Paul 
the man of vision, grasped the ideal ; Paul the or- 
ganizer, brought the ideal into being. Many a man 
of prophetic insight fails to bring his purposes into 
life because his idealism knows so little of practical 
methods of work, but Paul, the Christian idealist, 
was still a man among men, a worker in the prac- 



THE FULLNESS OF CHEIST 109 

tical affairs of everyday life. As a missionary to 
the Gentile world, he was at work as we have seen, 
establishing groups of converts under an organiza- 
tion that steadily grew in ideals and in achievement. 
The method of his leadership was to inspire and 
stimulate, rather than to dominate or completely 
control, but still he put at the disposal of his friends 
all the resources of his experience and his faith. 
Founding a community of believers was only the 
beginning of his effort. Wherever he could, he re- 
turned to ^Wisit the brethren in every city"; when 
he could not return himself to visit, he sent others 
to carry a message of inspiration and encourage- 
ment (I Thess. 3:1-2); his letters carried his coun- 
sel and his help; even in communities where he 
himself had never been, churches were sharing in 
the benefits of his leadership, and were gaining 
the inspiration of his personality through his letters 
(viz., Colossians and Romans). It was a genuine 
instinct for organization that saw the need for 
uniting the churches in friendly sympathy and co- 
operation, through such an enterprise as the collec- 
tion for the church in Jerusalem. But it was an 
even greater insight that strove to teach the 
churches independence, so that the movement 
should not suffer defeat when the inspiration of his 
personality should be withdrawn. 

His power to see beyond the present emergency 
led him so to deal with those who looked to him for 
leadership, that they should grow in initiative and 



110 PAUL THE CONQUEROE 

independence, and become themselves leaders in the 
faith. ' ' Not as in my presence only, but now much 
more in my absence, work out your own salvation, ' ' 
he wrote to the Philippians (2:12). Intimate as 
his fellowship was with his converts, strong as the 
ties were which held them to him, yet he was urging 
them to accept the gospel that he brought, not on 
his word only, ''but in power and in the Holy 
Spirit and in assurance." His leadership was a 
summons not to follow, but to lead. 

Paul, the initiator of great plans, the organizer 
of a great enterprise, was also a great spiritual 
example to his own age. The utter devotion to a 
spiritual cause that taught him to ''sum up all 
things in Christ," gave him superiority over every 
circumstance. He had learned in whatsoever state 
he was "therein to be content." The record of 
his missionary activity is a story of resolution in the 
face of physical danger, of discouraging conditions 
of work, of active opposition, of imprisonment, and 
finally, of death for the sake of the cause. It was a 
far journey from the attitude of helpless bewilder- 
ment on the Damascus road, to the spiritual mastery 
that expressed itself in his letters : 

^^For me to live is Christ'^ (Phil. 1: 21) 
^'It is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me" 
(Gal. 2: 20) 

and to the utter self-dedication to his ideal that 
could say in all humility, "Be ye imitators of me" 
(I Cor. 4 : 16), but the journey had been made step 



THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST 111 

by step, till his allegiance to his spiritual ideal was 
dominant over every thought and every act. 

By his life of activity and accomplishment, by 
the bright challenge of his spiritual achievement, 
Paul served his generation, and met the immediate 
need for leadership and organization in the begin- 
nings of the Christian church, but the power of his 
message and his life belong, not merely to the first 
century. Whatever advice he gave about practices 
of living in a social order that has passed, he rested 
back upon spiritual principles that transcend the 
changes in thought and life that the centuries have 
brought, and it is upon these eternal truths that 
the emphasis of his teaching and living was laid. 

His gospel never separated itself from the back- 
ground of Jewish monotheism and ethics, but his 
interpretation of Christianity revealed the fact that 
the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, was 
^^the Father from whom every family in heaven 
and on earth is named"; taught that God^s su- 
preme revelation of Himself in human life was not 
in a king for the Jewish nation, but in a Saviour, 
whose abiding spirit dwelling in the believer could 
bring the divine life into control; showed that the 
achievement of the Jewish ethical ideal came not 
through the legalistic observance of a moral code, 
but through the free and unrestrained working of 
the Christ spirit in man. Jesus had lived and died 
for the sake of the Kingdom of God on earth. The 
meaning of that life and death in all its universal 



^^z- 



112 PAUL THE CONQUEROR 

applications, Paul interpreted not only to the first 
century, but to all the generations that have fol- 
lowed. The sweep of his thought of God was limit- 
less: ''One God and Father of all, who is over 
all, and through all, and in all" (Eph. 4:6). The 
Christ who lived in him, was a spirit who was ''in 
all" (Col. 3:11). There were no bounds to his 
hope for mankind : ' ' There can be neither Jew nor 
Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there 
can be no male and female ; for ye all are one man 
in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28). 

It was a universal gospel, and his own purpose 
and plan included the whole world as he knew it. 
Limitless in its thought, his gospel must be limit- 
less in its outreach to the world. His plans, his 
hopes, his confidence, pressed forward, knowing 
no bounds nor goal, "till we all attain unto the 
unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son 
of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of 
the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4: 13). 



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